New Zealand Certificate in Project Management (Level 4)

This qualification recognises the skills and knowledge necessary to support programme managers and project team members. It is designed for people who are seeking to build their knowledge on project management. Graduates will be able to carry out a broad range of support roles as a project team member, as well as take responsibility for some parts of a project or projects. These graduates will have the skills and knowledge to be employed in a variety of business entities in project support roles.

Consistently deliver successful projects with improved efficiency

If you're looking to grow the hands-on management capability in your teams, a qualification in project management can get you there. The knowledge gained will help to ensure that you and your staff have the know-how and skills to run projects successfully from start to finish, on time and within budget.

When it comes to development in project management, we can work with you to develop a solution to wrap around daily responsibilities to ensure your team is maximising its productivity while upskilling.

What are the benefits?

For the learner

• Improved skills to lead, plan and execute a successful project with confidence
• Ability to utilise core project management principles, methodologies and tools to take a project through all stages of its life cycle

For the employer

• Better stakeholder engagement and management of client expectations
• Better cost, time, and quality management
• Staff equipped with the tools to drive business growth

How are the qualifications achieved?

Ignite Colleges can evaluate your in-house training and workplace practices to see if what you already do meets the requirements of a qualification. If they don’t quite measure up, we can work with you to fill those gaps and achieve the qualification. Alignments are only suitable for large groups of individuals.

Partnering with Ignite Colleges

Building high performing teams is what it’s all about. Ignite Colleges partners with organisations to create programmes that recognise their needs, fill gaps in skill sets and meet their industry requirements and timelines.

We can work with you to review your current practices (including induction, in-house, on-the-job and external training programmes) to map where your training systems and national requirements overlap. Once this is established, we can help to align your current training programmes with the national standards, so your team can achieve formal recognition for their training and knowledge.

At Ignite Colleges, our focus is to build New Zealand’s workplace capability. We help organisations and their staff grow competencies, improve performance, and build leadership capabilities.

How’s it done?

Once you have confirmed that you would like to enrol, we will send through a training agreement to complete. When this has been received back, we then allocate you an assessor who will make contact to go through the process, which is detailed below.

The assessment method is a three-step process:

• Completion of a self-assessment workbook providing evidence of the project initiation. This includes a verification which will need to be completed by someone senior to you in the project. Once this has been received, the assessor will contact your verifier for more information
• From here, you will be given the go ahead to start the collation of evidence into a portfolio for the assessor to review. Once submitted, this will be reviewed, and the assessor will then book an assessment discussion or a visit to view the project if applicable.
• The assessment discussion with the assessor will be an informal conversation about the project and will cover any further information to complete the evidence.

Some key points to think about:

• After successfully completing the Self-Assessment, you have 7 months to complete the qualification
• Your verifier (manager) will be contacted to confirm the work you have completed on the project
• You must be a Project Manager or be part of a project team
• Work on only one project is required
• It must have taken place in the last 2 years
• All evidence must be printed and sent through to your assessor

Ready to get started?

The team at Ignite Colleges are happy to discuss your needs, the wide range of solutions we have available and how we can empower you to reach your business goals.

Give us a call at 0800 200 345 or email us at support@ignitecolleges.ac.nz for more information.

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Important update: Project Management training moving to Ignite

As you will be aware the Reform of Vocational Education (ROVE) is well underway. This means that Skills is transitioning arranging training activity to a variety of organisations called ‘Receiving Organisations’. Arranging Training means the provision of on-job and off-job training and support. We can now confirm that as of 1 September 2022, the arranging training activities related to Real Estate will move to Ignite.

What does this mean for you?

From 1 September 2022, the arranging, supporting and assessing work-based learning (apprenticeships, traineeships and micro-credentials) in respect of the programme you are registered to assess will transfer from Skills to Ignite.

Changes we are making behind the scenes

From 26 - 31 August 2022, we are implementing ‘read only’ to our systems. This means that no changes can be made to these systems during that period. Learners won’t be able to access learning materials or assessments. You can still send through any completed assessments / credits to credits@skills.org.nz up until 30 September 2022. Ignite will be in touch with you before then to provide you their contact details.

What happens to my information that Skills holds

Your status as a Registered Assessor and assessing scope will automatically be transferred as part of the arrangement agreed between Ignite and Skills. To ensure a smooth transition for everyone involved, the information Skills holds about you will be transferred to Ignite.

How does training with Ignite Colleges work?

We work with businesses like yours to map out where weaknesses in skill sets lie, and how training can be used strengthen them. Our account managers will then work with you to select the right training programmes (and if required, customise them) to suit your needs.

Once a programme is chosen our team helps you to set up and embed the training programmes in your organisation, so that they work seamlessly with the daily activities of your staff, and with minimal disruption.

Ignite Colleges training programmes and course materials are developed in consultation with industry representatives to ensure they are relevant and can drive consistent performance and growth in your organisation.

What are alignments and how do they work?

If your company already has strong internal training, alignment could be a great option. An alignment involves an assessment specialist looking at a company’s induction programmes, training and structured learning and mapping this to the competencies needed to gain a National/New Zealand qualification.

The assessment specialist may then recommend a supplementary assessment resource to fill any specific assessment gaps needed to ensure that staff can obtain the formal recognition they deserve. This tool relies on great support by managers/team leaders through verification (they would be fully supported by Ignite Colleges through training to obtain the necessary skills to do this).

What are the differences between unit standards, credits, qualifications and certificates?

Nationally recognised qualifications are made up by a number of unit standards, which are set at different levels. The level of the unit standard indicates its degree of difficulty. This allows people entering into a qualification to start at a lower level, with easier to achieve unit standards, and work their way up to the higher levels as their knowledge grows with training.

When a trainee completes a unit standard, they earn credits for that particular unit. Once all the required credits have been achieved for that qualification, the trainee will be awarded either a National Certificate or a New Zealand Certificate.

Note: NZQA has reviewed its qualification systems and decided to update it to meet changing industry and technology needs. As a result, the old National Certificates are being phased out and replaced with New Zealand Certificates which are the updated versions of the old qualifications.

How do assessments work?

Learners are assessed towards the end of their training to make sure they’ve gained the key knowledge/competencies they need to meet the nationally recognised standards.

Assessments can be carried out in the workplace by trained and registered workplace assessors, or through accredited training providers. Ignite Colleges can assist with sourcing registered assessors or in training up your internal staff so that they can carry out the assessments in-house.

What support is available once we’ve signed up?

The support from Ignite Colleges doesn’t just stop once your company is setup with a training programme or aligned to a national standard. We offer a wide range of resources, tools and dedicated staff to advise and support you on a continuing basis.

What are the benefits of training staff to national standards?

Helping your staff to receive national recognition for the skills and training they do in their everyday work is something that pays for itself in no time at all. Here’s why:

• It ensures consistency in training, so that regardless of the trainer, your staff are learning the key information they need to succeed in their roles.
• It ensures consistency in performance as everyone receives the same level of training and ends up with a similar level of expert knowledge.
• It reduces error rates and re-work, which saves your business money and protects your brand name.
• It reduces staff turnover rates as staff feel more valued and are more engaged. Lower turnover rates protect organisational knowledge and reduce recruitment and training costs. It also helps to boost morale and improve company culture.