International Module updates

We have updated our international content as a result of an internal review of our topics and feedback from schools.

International Students

• Added the phrase "and their families" to make it clearer that information is not provided to students alone.
• Updated the resource links to match the new titles of the Code and its Guidelines, and removed the link to the amendments (these are now covered in the Code and Guidelines).

Marketing and Promotion

• We have tweaked some of the wording in the bullet points to better match the Code.
• We have added the phrase "and their families" to make it clearer that information is not provided to students alone.
• Some schools do not actively market and promote, but they still need to ensure they meet the Code requirements around providing appropriate information when approached by students and their families. We now offer wording for those schools to replace the marketing wording. Let us know if you need this wording on your site.

Managing and Monitoring Agents (No Agents)

• Schools who have recently been through the accreditation process have told us that NZQA is looking for a statement from schools about whether they use agents or not. We have created a topic with some generic wording for schools in this situation.
• If your school doesn't use agents, tell us if you want this alternative topic. If you do use agents, your school will keep its current agent topic/s.

Offers

• We've updated the bullet points about ways in which an assessment of an offer of place may be made in line with the Code and Guidelines.
• In the section on providing information to international students to support their decision to enrol, we've clarified what information is required by the Code and added a link to International Enrolment, which also lists the required information.
• We've added "and their families" and reference to an agent to clarify who the information may be provided to.

International Enrolment

• Clarified what information is required, as a minimum, under the Code, before an enrolment contract is signed.

International Enrolment Contract

• Minor wording updates.

Immigration Matters

• We've added that the staff member responsible for ensuring immigration compliance is also responsible for keeping up to date with NZ Immigration requirements.

International Orientation

• Updated the bullet points about what is included in the orientation programme.
• Updated the bullet points about what health and safety information may be provided.

Safety and Wellbeing

• This is a new version of the current Safety and Wellbeing topic.
• The sections on Contact Details and Communicating with Parents have been moved to the new Communicating with Parents of International Students topic.
• The Students at Risk or with Special Needs section has been moved to the new International Students at Risk or with Special Needs topic.
• A new section about International Student Support has been added at the top, using the first paragraph previously in the Monitoring and Addressing Student Concerns section.

International Students At Risk or with Special Needs

• This new topic absorbs information that was previously in the Safety and Wellbeing topic.
• We have added the definitions of "at risk" and "special needs" from the Code of Practice.
• We have put new emphasis on keeping parents informed of situations, and clarified our wording around referral to other agencies to note that this may sometimes require reporting.
• We have added additional links to relevant information elsewhere on your SchoolDocs site.

Accommodation

• This topic absorbs the Young International Students topic, which will be removed from your site by the beginning of term 1 2020.

Communicating with Parents of International Students

• This new topic absorbs information that was previously in the Young International Students, Safety and Wellbeing, and Student Support, Advice, and Services topics.
• We have updated the wording around contact details and added some new links to other helpful information elsewhere on your SchoolDocs.
• There are new sections about Communication before enrolment, Orientation, and Residential care.

Residential Caregivers

• Schools can now specify (in an optional statement) what kind of residential caregivers they allow.
• We've added bullet points outlining some of the rights and obligations of the residential caregiver.

Group Students

• We've clarified the responsibility of school and any third party.
• Added a statement about accommodation.

Staff Training

• This topic will be moved from the Student Support, Advice, and Services section, to the Safety and Wellbeing section, as cross-cultural awareness and cultural training for staff comes under this section in the new Code Guidelines.
• We have added the need for staff to be aware of the DRS rules and added links to this topic.

Student Support, Advice, and Services

• This is a new version of the current Student Support, Advice, and Services topic.
• We have added an introductory statement to emphasise that this Code outcome is about providing information.
• The section about Communicating with Parents has been moved to the new Communicating with Parents of International Students topic.
• Other sections have also been removed as these are already covered by other topics
• The bullet points about what information is provided to students and their parents have been updated to align more closely with this particular Code outcome and guidelines.

International Student Support Contacts

• This topic will be removed from your SchoolDocs site by the beginning of term 1 2020.
• Any information currently in your table will be transferred to your Safety and Wellbeing topic (if it's not already there). Phone numbers and emails will no longer be listed.
• The information about the emergency contact is already listed in your Safety and Wellbeing topic.

Fee Protection and Refunds

• We've made changes to this topic to make it clearer that the information in the topic does not outline schools' specific refund conditions, but only indicates what schools need to consider when deciding their conditions.
• We've changed the title to Fee Protection and Refunds, removing the word policy, so it is clearer that this page is not a school's Fee Protection and Refund Policy, which will be school-specific.
• We've added a sub-heading for a section called Fee Protection and Refund policy, which is where schools can explain how they provide their policy to parents and can add a link to their policy, if they'd like it to be included on their SchoolDocs site.
• We've made it clearer what refund conditions need to be outlined in the policy under the Code, and removed some of the wording that schools will outline in their policy, to avoid confusion and contradiction.
• We've added links to the relevant legislation.

Compliance with International Student Contract Dispute Resolution Scheme

• We've added a statement about informing students and their families about the DRS, with links to the relevant topics.

Administration Resources

• This section heading will be retitled International Information Management.
• The topic Information Management and Review will become the first sub-topic of this section.
• The topic International Students Implementation Audits and Reports, which currently sits in the Documentation and Self-Review Policy section will be moved to become a sub-topic in the new International Information Management section.
• The topics International Students Resources and International Student File will remain as sub-topics in this section.

International Student Resources (Model sites)

• We've updated the wording in the yellow box on our Model School's International Student Resources topic to clarify what school-specific documents/resources are and schools options for managing these.
• We've also finished reviewing the sample resources we offer and have made some minor updates to these.

Becoming a Signatory to the Code of Practice

• This is a new topic that aims to help schools who are applying to become a signatory to the Code of Practice (it will only appear on our Model sites).
• We explain how schools can use their SchoolDocs International Students Module to answer the Code accreditation questions, and what school-specific content schools will need to develop.

Topic Number: 31033

Last Modified Date: 18/11/2021 13:53:51

Topic Version: 1

Published Date: 30/01/2026