We all know that New Zealand is a beautiful country to visit, but besides its natural beauty and picturesque landscapes, there is a lot more to it, which makes it a wonderful place to live and learn.
New Zealand is a small island country in the southwestern pacific ocean comprised of two main landmasses: northland and southland and more than 700 smaller islands.
New Zealand is a developed country ranked highly in the international comparisons concerning the quality of life, education, protection of the people, government transparency, and economic freedom.
New Zealand offers the most active and adventurous lifestyle to the students looking for excitement in their lives.
It has the most beautiful outdoor lifestyle with many natural landscapes, beaches, snow-covered mountains, volcanoes, forests, and many other tourist destinations for the students to visit and explore.
Why study in New Zealand?
In recent years, new Zealand has observed a consistent growth in the number of international students moving to New Zealand to study. It has a varied and world-class education system with eight universities and several other private institutes, including technology and polytechnics.
Following are some of the top reasons that why one should prefer new Zealand as one of their top choices to study abroad:
Top-quality education
The quality of education in New Zealand is considered the best among all as it is based on the worldwide tested and recognized British education system.
The education system here is student-centric, which means their main focus is their students’ overall growth and development.
They make sure that the students are getting proper attention and continuous help from the teachers. Also, Students here are offered various opportunities to test their confidence and creativity, which further helps in their personal development.
Globally recognized universities
New Zealand is home to some of the world’s top-ranked universities, which got featured in the QS world university rankings.
New Zealand has 8 universities, 18 institutions for technology and polytechnics, some state colleges, and other private institutions offering hundreds of excellent quality programs along with practical training like engineering, business management, IT/computing, hotel, and tourism management and visual communications, etc.
The universities of New Zealand are globally recognized which means that one having a degree from any of the universities here is going to be valid all around the world and you can build a successful career based on that in any part of the world.
Top universities in New Zealand
- University of Auckland
- University of Otago
- University of Canterbury
- Massey university
- Victoria University of wellington
Affordable
The tuition fees in the universities of New Zealand are quite affordable as compared to the other top countries offering the same programs at high costs. Programs like MBA and Ph.D. are also quite affordable here.
And the living expenses of your stay in New Zealand are too significantly less than the other international student’s destinations like USA, US, Canada, Singapore, etc.
So overall, it’s quite an affordable place to study in.
English speaking country
The best thing about New Zealand is that it’s an English-speaking country which is a great advantage for international students. They don’t need to learn any other language to communicate with the other students. They can have English as their common medium, making it easier for them to socialize with the country people.
Student life
New Zealand offers the most vibrant and exciting lifestyle to the students studying here. The campuses of the universities of New Zealand are quite fun. You get to participate in any fun activities other than just studying like sports, music, drama, dance science, etc
Students are also taken to visit many theatres, concerts art galleries, museums, religious places, historical sites, scientific companies, and projects.
You will have so many opportunities here to socialize with people and make as many friends as you want.
Requirements to study in New Zealand
Now, as you have decided to study in New Zealand, we will guide you through the whole process of how Indian students apply to study in New Zealand.
Application process
Step 1. Before going ahead, the first step you need to take is to decide which university and the program you will apply for.
A wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate level programs are offered by the universities and institutes of new Zealand. You can do some research and find your dream course at any university.
Step 2. After deciding on the course, you need to check the eligibility criteria for getting admission to your dream university.
A foreign Student applying for any of the universities in New Zealand must be of the age of 18 and have cleared his previous class or degree with a minimum of 65% score.
Step 3. After checking if you are eligible or not, you need to fill an application form at the university’s official website and submit it online along with the documents required and the application fee.
Following are the documents required:
- Marksheet of Class XII or the bachelor degree (if applicable)
- Two references from any of your professors
- Letter of recommendation
- Statement of purpose
- Resume
- Copies of your score reports of GMAT, IELTS, TOEFL.
- Passport
- Other ID proofs
SOR- statement of purpose is your introduction letter to the admission board of the university you are applying for. In this statement, you present yourself in a way that shows the officers that you are the perfect fit for the college and that why they should accept your application. You have to write it in a first-person form and you can include your accomplishments and your future purpose or prospects of entering into the university.
LOR- letter of recommendation is the reference statement made by the third party stating that you are an ideal candidate along with your qualities, characteristics, and capabilities. That third party can be anyone like your professor or head of the institution etc which will recommend you to the college.
Intake seasons
The university in New Zealand usually has two intakes for the applications, one in January and the other in July. Also, few universities offer multiple intakes in September and November.
You should start your application process and begin with your language and aptitude tests and documents six months before the application deadline and also make sure that you are done with your language tests before three months so that you can start filling out your application form properly.
Language proficiency tests
As an international student, to secure admission to new Zealand universities, you must have to clear the English proficiency tests like IELTS, TOEFL and PTE before starting with your application process.
You can check on the university’s official website that which of the above-mentioned exams they accept and in any case, it is not mentioned or they have given a choice to you to attempt any of the tests of your choice, then it’s up to you.
Student visa requirements
Now, as an international student, you will be requiring a student permit or student visa to study in any of the universities or institutes of new Zealand.
To apply for your student visa, the following documents will be required:
- Valid passport
- Complete student visa application form
- Application fee payment receipt
- Admission letter from the university
- Health insurance receipt
- Two passport size photographs
- Transcripts/diploma/degrees/certificates from the schools you attended
- Scores from the language tests such as TOEFL, IELTS, PTE
- Financial support proof.
Visa granted you would be valid for up to 12 months in your stay in New Zealand. After that, you will have to get it renewed. Also, with the help of your student visa, you are allowed to work part-time o temporary jobs in your field.
Accommodation
Now that you are done with your application process and the visa process, your next step will find a perfect accommodation for you in new Zealand.
You can look consider going for an on-campus residence or renting yourself an apartment outside the campus.
Also, you can consider sharing your apartment with other students to lessen the burden of the total cost of accommodation as an international student. You can look for someone ready to share the apartment with you
Once you find yourself a perfect accommodation to live in, the first thing you have to do after is getting your address registered with the local authorities in New Zealand.
Living costs and tuition fees
The living costs of a single student depend on which city of new Zealand he s she is staying in. If the duration of your program is more than 36 weeks, then the average living costs per student will be around NZD 15,000.
The undergraduate level and the postgraduate level programs have different rates for the international students for the tuition fees.
Undergraduate fees
In New Zealand, recently, the government has introduced that the tuition fees for the first year for domestic students pursuing undergraduate degrees are free.
To get this free fee benefit, you have to apply for the government funding program and make sure that you are eligible.
However, the tuition fees for the domestic students are NZD 10,000-25,000 depends on how much amount of subsidy you get from the government funds.
And for international students, the tuition fees for the undergraduate degree is ranging between 20,000-35,000 NZD per year.
Postgraduate degrees
There is no free fee initiative; students must pay the tuition fees, which will cost 25,000-40,000 NZD for the international students, while the domestic students are expected to produce around 5,000-10,000NZD per year.
Health insurance
International students must apply for health insurance as a condition to get a student visa. The new Zealand government’s “code of practice for the pastoral care of international students” makes it compulsory for international students to have health and travel insurance during their stay in New Zealand.
Every university has to provide health and travel insurance to all the international students enrolling in their university to protect the students.
Scholarships
Many merit-based and need-based scholarships or other funding options are available for international students seeking financial aid.
Students can apply for the scholarships and their application form on the university’s official website. Do check the eligibility criteria before applying for any scholarship.
In the case of merit-based, students having vital academic records and good performance, and impressive participation in their previous classes would be eligible for applying for the scholarship awards and financial assistance.
Now, to apply to the scholarships, one has to submit all the documents required along with your application before the deadline:
- Academic record and photocopies
- Resume/CV
- A letter of intent/ cover letter
- Certificate of language proficiency
- Letter of recommendation LOR
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