Your course. Our commitment.

All of New Zealand are now at Alert Level 1, with some extra restrictions in place in Auckland.

Currently, only New Zealand residents and citizens (and their children and partners) are permitted to enter New Zealand.

The official updates from the New Zealand Ministry of Health provides the very latest information, including health and travel advice (both for those coming into the country and those travelling abroad) and information on current travel restrictions. Head to the following sites for the most up-to-date advice:

• Health and travel advice: New Zealand Ministry of Health
• COVID-19 general advice: New Zealand Government

The official updates from the New Zealand Ministry of Health provide the very latest information, including health and travel advice (both for those coming into the country and those travelling abroad) and information on current travel restrictions. This is an evolving situation and advice is being regularly updated.

• Health advice for New Zealand

Currently, only New Zealand residents and citizens (and their children and partners) are permitted to enter New Zealand.

New Zealand has moved to COVID-19 Alert Level 1, and Taylors College Auckland and Waikato Pathways College have reopened doors to onshore students and staff.

Safety measures have been implemented to meet the New Zealand Ministry of Health public health requirements under Alert Level 1, and to create a COVID safe environment for students and staff while on campus. All onshore students and staff have been made aware of these requirements.

Onshore students will resume learning face-to-face and offshore students will continue to study their programme in the familiar virtual classroom.

If you are based offshore and cannot travel to New Zealand, you can still start your programme online from home. As soon as borders reopen*, we will provide you with the guidance, support and information you need to transition to face-to-face teaching on our campus.

* Subject to local government restrictions (including border closures and campus restrictions) and compliance with Study Group’s detailed risk assessment.

The New Zealand border has been closed to almost all travellers from Thursday 19 March, 2020.

Please refer to the New Zealand Immigration website for the latest information regarding border closures, visas, visa extensions and other travel advice.

We are proactively contacting all students regarding any alternative study arrangements. Should you have questions, please contact your Study Centre or College, alternatively please contact globalstudentsupport@studygroup.com for assistance.

1. Confirm your place on your course in the usual way.
2. We will contact you before you are due to begin your studies to provide information about the online alternative available to you.
3. Let us know that you would like to proceed with your studies online by the specified deadline.
4. We will register you for your course and you will receive further instructions on how to access our online learning environment to begin your studies.

Due to the current travel restrictions, Immigration New Zealand have issued new guidance permitting international students to begin their studies online from their home country without requiring a visa.

If you have deferred your study to later in the year or early 2021; please inform the College and we will notify Immigration New Zealand. Your visa will remain valid over this period. Your file will be updated with this information. Refer to Immigration New Zealand for the latest updates. 

If you have already been issued a visa and are no longer travelling to New Zealand; you must inform us so that we can update your visa status with Immigration New Zealand.

If your visa application is still pending an outcome; you should contact the visa application centre to withdraw your visa application.

We will support students who have started their studies online to transition to on-campus learning as soon as we can. In the unlikely event that a student’s visa application to continue their studies at a Centre in the 2020/21 academic year is unsuccessful, we have amended our refund policy to ensure they will be entitled to a refund of fees as the circumstances may dictate. 

This pertains to students studying Pre-Foundation programme Taylors College Auckland. For the refund policy pertaining to University of Auckland Foundation Studies Certificate and all Waikato Pathways College programmes, please visit the College website.

Visa and withdrawal from Study Group restrictions on refund offers

*Applicable in situations where students have met all Study Group academic entry requirements (and pre-GTE screening) but are not eligible to receive an CoE based on GTE issue.

We are committed to working with every student on the options to continue studying with us. You will be encouraged to continue with your course, where possible, by online delivery.

Our Pre-Foundation programme includes a 21-day introductory period to allow you to decide if this is the right mode of study for you.

If, during the 21 day introductory period you choose not to continue your studies online you have two options available. You can choose to defer your place to a future intake, or you can choose to withdraw your place.

• If you choose to defer your place, we will work with you to find an alternative study plan so you can begin your studies at the next available intake that offers on-campus teaching in your chosen study destination. If we are unable to find an alternative study plan for you, we will refund the balance of your tuition fees.
• If you choose to withdraw your place, our usual cancellation and refund policy will apply. This will have been provided to you when you confirmed your place.

For the refund policy pertaining to University of Auckland Foundation Studies Certificate and all Waikato Pathways College programmes, please visit the College website.

If you have already booked accommodation in preparation for your studies;

• If you booked your accommodation independently, you are liable to your accommodation provider for fulfilling your accommodation contract. Please contact your accommodation provider directly for further information.
• If you booked your accommodation via Study Group, the refund policy will apply and the balance of your accommodation fees will be refunded.

For a number of our programmes, students can try online learning for 21 days or until census.*

We understand you might be unsure about studying online, so we are now offering an extended introductory period to ensure you have confidence and financial peace of mind to begin your studies online.

You will have 21 days, or until census, to experience learning online with us and make an informed decision about whether it is the right mode of study for you. If, within the 21-day introductory period, you decide not to continue with your studies online, you can select to defer your place or withdraw your place with a full refund on your tuition fees.

Terms and conditions

If you choose to join our online classes you will have a 21-day introductory period to allow you to decide if this is the right mode of study for you*.

If, within the introductory period, you choose not to continue your studies online you have two options available:

• defer your place to a future intake,
• or withdraw your place.

If you choose to defer your place, we will work with you to find an alternative study plan so you can begin your studies at the next available intake that offers on-campus teaching in your chosen study destination. If we are unable to find an alternative study plan for you, we will refund the balance of your tuition fees. If you choose to withdraw your place, our usual pre-enrolment cancellation and refund policy will apply. This will have been provided to you when you confirmed your place.

*This offer is not available for the following programmes:

• The University of Auckland’s Foundation Studies Certificate
• Waikato Pathways College - all programmes

If you would like to defer your place, we will work with you to find an alternative study plan so you can begin your studies at the next available intake offering on-campus teaching in your chosen study destination. Please contact your Program Leader or the Student Services team for support.

We are committed to working with every student on the options to continue studying with us and you will be encouraged to continue with your course, where possible, by virtual delivery.

Virtual learning will be made available to:

• Confirmed students who remain in their home country due to government health guidance and/or travel restrictions.

If you are based offshore and cannot travel to New Zealand, you can still start your programme online from home. As soon as borders reopen we will provide you with the guidance, support and information you need to transition to face-to-face teaching on our campus.

We are working closely with online learning experts to ensure we are leading innovation for the benefit of our students. We intend to provide the same high quality teaching and personal support in our online courses as we would on our campuses.

Teaching, learning and student support will involve 'live' sessions with your teacher. We will endeavour to schedule these sessions at a time of day which is suitable for the various time-zones of the students in your class. We acknowledge that time-zone may be an issue for some students, so for a number of courses, there will be a mixture of ‘live’ sessions, pre-recorded videos, and interactive components through our LMS (Learning Management System).

Teachers will also be engaging with you individually in order to provide academic and pastoral support.

If you begin your studies online, you will receive everything you would expect from a pathway programme whilst knowing that you haven’t had to delay your study and career ambitions.

You can expect:

• World-class teaching
• One-to-one sessions with your personal tutor
• An engaged, international community
• English language tuition

Studying online is an excellent way to prepare for university study and your future career. Starting a programme online during the current climate will show universities (and future employers) that you are committed to learning and are eager to progress your education and career.

Technology requirements for Study Group online courses

To access virtual classroom, course materials, LMS (Learning Management System) and undertake assessments, it is important to be prepared with the appropriate technology.

Computer

While it is possible to access and interact with most course content using various tablets and smartphones, such as iPads, iPhones and Android devices, these devices will not work for assessments and therefore it is important that you have a PC or Mac based computer available for use.

PC

• Any Microsoft Windows based PC (laptop or desktop, preferably running Windows 10)
• Web Browser: Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge (Chromium version)
• Webcam
• Microphone
• Installation of Zoom for Virtual Classroom, Office 365 (will be provided by Study Group) and Adobe Reader

Mac

• Any Apple MacOS based laptop or desktop
• Web Browser: Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge (Chromium version)
• Webcam
• Microphone
• Installation of Zoom for Virtual Classroom, Office 365 (will be provided by Study Group) and Adobe Reader

Internet Connection

Internet connectivity is required for access to all coursework. Internet connectivity could be in the form of a fixed line connection, 3G/4G/5G, wi-fi or other technologies.

Minimum: 600kbps download and 600kbps upload speed

Recommended: at least 1.5Mbps download and 1.5Mbps upload speed

Zoom Restricted Countries

Zoom is used for access to virtual classroom and is therefore an important part of all courses. Zoom is unavailable or restricted in several countries, with the full restricted list available here. While Zoom may still work from the countries listed, individuals should test Zoom using their own equipment to ensure connectivity.

Your attendance will be monitored through your engagement with online learning activities. You will be expected to engage with all course activities provided to you.

• Assessments will be held online via coursework submissions. We use Turnitin software which scans for plagiarism and other forms of academic impropriety.
• There may be some skills that we can't assess online such as practical lab skills and we are looking at alternatives for students impacted by this. As government travel guidance is changing regularly, we will provide more guidance on assessments and exams relating to specific programmes of study in due course. These will be in line with approaches taken by our university partners and, as appropriate, with guidance that is due to be issued by the New Zealand government’s Ministry of Education.

Currently, there has been no change made to this aspect of our programmes. Students will continue to work towards the same targets, and we will be supporting you to achieve these through online sessions.

Our university partners recognise all our online programmes. Once you have successfully completed your course, you will be able to progress on to your chosen university.**

**Subject to university progression criteria. Chosen university from the University of Auckland or the University of Waikato.