Nurture your passion for animals with the New Zealand Certificate in Animal Care (Companion Animals). Become a valued member of your local animal shelter or clinic, learn how to care for your own pet or pathway into a higher animal care qualification.
21 weeks full-time
2023 Semester 1: 20 June to 24 November
This programme is eligible for the Zero Fees Scheme.
International Fees can be found here.
You will learn:
This qualification will help you develop skills needed for working or further training in the animal care industry.
Compulsory
ACS100 Zoonoses and Their Control (8 Credits)
This paper provides students with knowledge of the lifecycles, signs of disease and means of control for common zoonotic pathogens which may be encountered when dealing with companion and/or lifestyle block animals.
ACS101 Animal Anatomy and Physiology (10 Credits)
This paper provides students with knowledge of the basic anatomy and physiology of common companion and lifestyle block animals in New Zealand.
ACS102 Ethical and Legal Behaviour in Relation to Animals (7 Credits)
This paper provides students with knowledge of the ethical and legal considerations in relation to animal care and handling in New Zealand.
ACS103 Normal and Abnormal Behaviour and Emergency Procedures (5 Credits) ACS103 and ACS104 must be done together as the course work and assessments are integrated.
This paper provides students with knowledge and skills necessary to recognize normal and abnormal animal behaviour and when appropriate emergency procedures need to be considered/put in place.
ACS104 Basic Animal Health Procedures and First Aid (5 Credits)ACS103 and ACS104 must be done together as the course work and assessments are integrated.
This paper provides students with knowledge necessary to undertake basic health procedures and apply first aid for common companion and/or lifestyle block animals in New Zealand.
ACS105 Signs of Ill Health in Animals (5 Credits)
This paper provides students with knowledge necessary to identify the signs of ill health in common companion and/or lifestyle block animals in New Zealand.
Companion Animal Context - Choose 3 from
ACS111 Cat Identification, Health and Housing (10 Credits)
This paper provides students with knowledge necessary to identify different cat breeds, describe indicators of good and ill health in cats, provide appropriate nutrition for cats, identify housing requirements for cats, and explain safe handling techniques for cats.
ACS106 Dog Identification, Health and Housing (10 Credits)
This paper provides students with knowledge necessary to identify individual dogs and breeds, describe indicators of good and ill health in dogs, provide appropriate nutrition for dogs, identify housing requirements for dogs, and explain safe handling techniques for dogs.
ACS112 Reptile and Amphibian Identification, Health and Housing (10 Credits)
This paper provides students with knowledge necessary to identify different reptiles and amphibians, describe indicators of good and ill health in reptiles and amphibians, provide appropriate nutrition for reptiles and amphibians, identify housing requirements for reptiles and amphibians, and explain safe handling techniques for reptiles and amphibians.
ACS109 Rodent and Rabbit Identification, Health and Housing (10 Credits)
This paper provides students with knowledge necessary to identify different rodent and rabbit breeds, describe indicators of good and ill health in rodent and rabbit, provide appropriate nutrition for rodent and rabbit, identify housing requirements for rodent and rabbit, and explain safe handling techniques for rodent and rabbit.
ACS113 Caged Bird Identification, Health and Housing (10 Credits)
This paper provides students with knowledge necessary to identify different caged birds, describe indicators of good and ill health in caged birds, provide appropriate nutrition for caged birds, identify housing requirements for caged birds, and explain safe handling techniques for caged birds.
This course is designed to provide education and training for people wishing to progress to higher levels of tertiary training, or gain employment in animal-related industry sectors, including veterinary practices, animal laboratories, pet shops, kennels, animal welfare agencies, farms and representatives for animal drug companies.
School Leavers
Applicants should be a minimum of 16 years of age, and have attained NCEA Level 2 as follows:
Mature ApplicantsApplicants over the age of 20 years at time of enrolment will be considered where they can demonstrate the ability to succeed in a programme. Examples of demonstration of ability to succeed are the provision of evidence of successful completion of a programme of study at Level 2 or above, and/or employment in the related sector for one or more years. They may be admitted subject to programme regulations approved by the head of faculty in consultation with the programme manager as appropriate. Personal commitment and a belief in one’s own ability to succeed are important personal traits and will always be taken into consideration during the selection process.
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 - General or Academic score of 5 with no band score lower than 5 TOEFL Paper based test (pBT) - Score of 500 (with an essay score of 4 TWE) TOEFL Internet based test (iBT) - Score of 35 (with a writing score of 14) Cambridge English Examination - B2 First or B2 First for schools with a score of 154. No less than 154 in each skill. OET - Minimum of Grade C or 200 in all sub-tests NZCEL - a) Expiring Level b) Current: a) Level 3 (General) or (Workplace) b) Level 3 (General) Pearson Test of English (Academic) - PTE (Academic) score of 36 with no band score lower than 36 Language Cert - B1 Achiever International ESOL Written (LRW) PASS with no less than 25/50 in each skill and Spoken (S) PASSTrinity ISE - ISE I 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
To satisfactorily complete the New Zealand Certificate in Animal Care (Companion Animals) (Level 3), and be awarded this qualification the student must successfully achieve:
Please Note: Students failing to engage in study as per programme requirements may forfeit Zero Fees entitlement.
Graduates of this Level 3 Certificate may wish to apply for one of our on-campus Veterinary Nursing programmes.
Monday - Thursday 9am-4pm