Bachelor of Therapeutic and Sports Massage

Graduates may work as therapists and sport massage specialists in the following settings:

• multi disciplinary health practices, 
• private practice, 
• hospitals, 
• rehabilitation centres, 
• community centres, 
• gyms and sports complexes, 
• sports teams, 
• physiotherapy or 
• chiropractic clinics, 
• complementary health clinics, 
• hotels and resorts, 
• community mental health centres 
• and nursing homes, 
• as well as in education.

Therapeutic and sports massage specialists will work with individuals and groups of all ages, assisting those recovering from or dealing with injury, illness or disability, as well as individuals and groups looking for stress management intervention and injury prevention strategies.

School Leavers

NCEA Level 3 - three subjects at Level 3, made up of:

• 14 credits each, in three approved subjects 
• Literacy - 10 credits at Level 2 or above, made up of five credits in reading and five credits in writing
• Numeracy - 10 credits at Level 1 or above, made up of specified achievement standards available through a range of subjects, or unit standards - package of three numeracy unit standards (26623, 26626, 26627- all three required)

Mature Applicants
Applicants in this category will have achieved the age of 20 by March 1 of the first year of enrolment in the programme and have provided evidence of relevant prior learning and experience.

Special Admission
The applicant has successfully completed a special programme at NZQA Level 4 or above, which prepares students for the required academic standard for entry eg New Zealand Diploma in Remedial Massage, or its equivalent, or successful completion of Year One of the Diploma in Sport and Recreation.

In the opinion of the Head of School in consultation with the Programme Manager, the student will have a good chance of achieving success in the degree programme and the student will not place an unreasonable burden on the teaching staff and or other students.

Provisional Part time Admission
An applicant who does not meet academic criteria may be provisionally admitted to enrol in one or more Year One papers. Upon successful completion of the papers, the student may apply for special admission or admission by mature entry.

Additional Criteria
In addition, the following requirements also apply to applicants in all admissions and categories:

• Applicants may be required to participate in an interview, or if they live at some distance from the campus, complete a telephone interview and must produce copies of applicable certificates and/or evidence of prior achievements before interviews
• Applicants may also be required to participate in a pre entry testing process and/or demonstrate successful completion of prior learning at NZQA Level 4
• Applicants are required to provide two confidential references from people who are able to affirm that the applicant is of good character and reputation and is suitable to work with vulnerable clients
• Applicants are asked to make a confidential declaration as to whether or not they have prior criminal convictions.  They are advised at the time of the request for information that a prior conviction may not necessarily exclude them from admission
• Applicants must have a level of health and abilities commensurate with achieving practice competencies in the programme.  Applicants are required to complete a health declaration and further reports may be requested with the consent of the applicant

English Language Requirements

Applicants, whose first language is not English, or who come from a country where the language of instruction in schools is not English, are required to provide evidence of having achieved one of the following

NCEA Level 3 with University Entrance, or

an International Baccalaureate Diploma or Cambridge A- level qualification for which the teaching and assessment was conducted in English; or

Cambridge Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (CELTA),or Trinity College London Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (CertTESOL);or

Successful completion of all primary education (being the equivalent of New Zealand primary school years 1 to 8) and at least three years of secondary education (being the equivalent of three years from New Zealand secondary school years 9 to 13) at schools in either New Zealand,,Australia,Canada, the Republic of Ireland, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States one of the countries listed in Rule 18.5 where the student was taught using English as the language of instruction; or

Successful completion of at least five years of secondary education (being the equivalent of New Zealand secondary school years 9 to 13) at schools in either New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the Republic of Ireland, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States where the student was taught using English as the language of instruction; or

Successful completion of a Bachelor's Degree, Graduate Certificate, Graduate Diploma, Bachelor Honours degree, Postgraduate Certificate, Postgraduate Diploma, Masters' Degree or Doctoral Degree, the language of instruction of which must be in English and which must be from a tertiary education provider from New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the Republic of Ireland, South Africa, the United Kingdom or the United States or

Successful completion of one of the following internationally recognised proficiency tests listed below to the level required of the programme of study and with all scores achieved in a single test during the two years preceding the proposed date of enrolment

IELTS test - Academic score of 6 with no band score lower than 5.5
TOEFL Paper based test (pBT) - Score of 550 (with an essay score 5 TWE)
TOEFL Internet based test (iBT) - Score of 60 (with a writing score of 18)
Cambridge English Examination - B2 First or B2 First for schools or C1 Advanced or C2 Proficiency with a score of 169. No less than 162 in each skill.
OET - Minimum of Grade C or 200 in all sub-tests
NZCEL - a) Expiring Level b) Current: a) Level 4 (Academic) b) Level 4 (Academic)
Pearson Test of English (Academic) - PTE (Academic) score of 50 with no band score lower than 42
Language Cert - C1 Expert International ESOL Written (LRW) PASS with no less than 25/50 in each skill and Spoken (S) PASS
Trinity ISE - ISE II with no less than distinction in any band

* New versions of some NZCEL qualifications, and in some cases new qualifications, were published on 13 June 2017. These are intended to replace pre-existing versions and qualifications, which have been given expiring status until discontinued on 31 December 2019. (a) denotes expiring (b) denotes current

Specific requirements

This programme is taught using HyFlex delivery. Please note that papers within this programme may alter due to the Unification of Massage Therapy Level 6 Curriculum. Further details will be made available when known.

Student's First Day Requirements

If you completed the Level 5 Massage Diploma outside of SIT, you will need to provide 3 sets of quality linen for clinical practice. The requirements will be discussed in the first week.

Please note that a reasonable level of fitness is required to perform massage therapy. You will also need to give and receive massage therapy to people of all genders. Classes usually finish by 4pm however during clinical placements you may be required beyond these hours, including at the weekend. You will be advised on the timetable.

Attendance requirements as follows for Bachelor of Therapeutic and Sports Massage:

100% attendance required for the following papers:

• GEN105 Health aspects of exercise and nutrition
• MT5170 Therapeutics I
• MT6270 Therapeutics II
• MT7370 Health psychology and therapeutics III
• 90% minimum attendance required
• MT6250 Clinical practice I
• MT6251 Clinical practice II
• MT7350 Advanced clinical reasoning and clinical practice III

All other papers require a minimum of 80% attendance.

For the Bachelor of Therapeutic and Sports Massage successful completion of all assessment requirements for each paper of the three year degree.  This amounts to successful completion of 360 credits.

The Bachelor of Therapeutic and Sports Massage (BTSM) and Diploma of Therapeutic and Sports Massage (DTSM) from Southern Institute of Technology are NZQA approved qualifications.  A graduate of these programmes is eligible to apply for membership of Massage New Zealand, or other massage or complementary health related professional associations in New Zealand.  Specific entry criteria or additional examinations for each professional association may apply.

From 2010, criteria for the award of the Diploma in Therapeutic and Sports Massage will be as follows: successful completion of year 1 and year 2 of the Bachelor of Therapeutic and Sports Massage (240 credits). In addition, students will be required to show evidence of enrolment into and attendance of year 3 of the Bachelor of Therapeutic and Sports Massage. Attendance will be in accordance with this programme's regulations. Students will be required to submit an application to the Bachelor of Therapeutic and Sports Massage Board of Studies for consideration of the award of Diploma in Therapeutic and Sports Massage.

Graduates can continue their education with:

Master of Applied Health Sciences (Wellness and Rehabilitation)

Postgraduate Diploma in Applied Health Science (Wellness and Rehabilitation)

Postgraduate Certificate in Applied Health Science (Wellness and Rehabilitation)

Classes for Level 5 and 6 papers are held Monday to Friday, 9.00am-4.00pm at SIT's main Invercargill campus. The timetable varies each semester and is confirmed about two weeks before the semester begins.

Students operate the SIT massage clinic on clinic days and sometimes this can go until 6pm at the latest.

Level 7 papers being taught by Blended Delivery need to be confirmed.