New Zealand Diploma in Wellness and Relaxation Massage

Graduates of this diploma will be qualified to enter the Massage Industry as wellness and relaxation massage therapists in a broad range of wellness and relaxation massage settings.

School Leavers 

NCEA Level 2 - 60 credits at Level 2 or above plus 20 credits from any level. In addition the literacy and numeracy requirements for NCEA Level 1 must be met as follows:

Literacy requirement
Minimum of 10 credits through either:

• Specified assessment standards - available through a range of subjects and English for Academic Purposes unit standards 22750 and 22751 (minimum total of 10 credits), or
• Unit standards - package of three literacy unit standards (26622, 26624, 26625 total of 10 credits- all three required).

Numeracy requirement
Minimum of 10 credits through either:

• Achievement standards - specified assessment standards available through a range of subjects - (minimum total of 10 credits), or
• Unit standards - package of three numeracy unit standards 26623, 26626,26627 (total of 10 credits - 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. Preference will be given to those mature aged applicants who can demonstrate evidence of successful completion of a programme of study to NZQA Level 4.

Special Admission 
Mature aged applicants who do not fit the above entry criteria may be considered for entry if they can demonstrate likelihood of success in the programme: For example two years or more voluntary or paid work experience in the health industry or in business, coupled with an academic record of achievement to NZQA Level 3, and/or the ability to demonstrate achievement at NZQA Level 4 through literacy testing prior to acceptance into the programme.

Additional Criteria
Successful applicants will be required to complete a New Zealand Police Consent to Disclosure of Information form. The form will be sent by SIT to the Police Licensing and Vetting Service, and returned in confidence to the Head of Department/Programme Manager delegate. Information on the NZ Police Vetting Service is available from the New Zealand Police website. 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.

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 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 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 5.5 with no band score lower than 5
TOEFL Paper based test (pBT) - Score of 550 (with an essay score of 5 TWE)
TOEFL Internet based test (iBT) - Score of 46 (with a writing score of 14)
Cambridge English Examination - B2 First or B2 First for schools with a score of 162. 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 4 (General) or (Workplace) b) Level 4 (General) or (Employment)
Pearson Test of English (Academic) - PTE (Academic) score of 42 with no band score lower than 36
Language Cert - B2 Communicator IESOL (LRWS) with HIGH PASS and no less than Pass in each skill
Trinity ISE - ISE II with no less than merit 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 Diploma in Wellness and Relaxation Massage (Level 5) and be awarded this qualification the student must successfully achieve:

• A minimum of 120 credits in accordance with the Programme schedule for the New Zealand Diploma in Wellness and Relaxation Massage (Level 5).
• The student will normally be expected to complete the New Zealand Diploma in Wellness and Relaxation Massage (Level 5)full-time over one year or part-time over two years.

Please Note: Students failing to attend for 80% of the timetabled programme hours may forfeit Zero Fees entitlement.

Classes 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.