Youth Guarantee Educational Performance Information

Purpose of Youth Guarantee Programme

Youth Guarantee, a fees free programme, aims to increase the educational achievement of 16 and 17 year olds not currently engaged in education, and to improve transitions between school, tertiary education and work. The programme has been funded by the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) since 2010. It seeks to provide tertiary education opportunities at Levels 1-3 on the New Zealand Qualifications Framework (NZQF), including foundation level vocational and generic skills that will assist learners in pursuing higher level education, training or work.

Youth Guarantee contributes to the wider youth opportunities package designed to create new work, education and training opportunities for young people. Overall, the Youth Guarantee initiative aims to ensure all young people achieve a minimum National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) level 2 or an equivalent tertiary qualification.

Introduction

The Youth Guarantee fees free tertiary programme began in 2010 as a result of the Prime Minister�s youth opportunities package announced as part of Budget 2009. Initially, funding was distributed to 18 Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics (ITPs) and 10 Private Training Establishments (PTEs), funding approximately 2000 Equivalent Full-Time Students (EFTS).

Budget 2010 saw the number of EFTS increase by 500 to 2500 in total. The number of Tertiary Education Organisations (TEOs) funded for Youth Guarantee also increased, with an additional six PTEs and one w�nanga participating.

Budget 2011 merged the Youth Training programme with Youth Guarantee from January 2012. The programme now funds approximately 7500 places across almost 150 TEOs, including the original 2010 and 2011 TEOs