Course planning

Make sure you get approval for your study plan from your Faculty after host acceptance and before you leave, so that you get the credit you need on your return

Exchange Course Approvals

The Exchange Course Approval Form is an agreement between you and your Faculty that the courses you plan to study on exchange can be cross-credited to your Victoria University of Wellington degree once you complete your exchange. You need to fill this in with the courses you plan to study at your host university once you have been accepted into your host university, and have it approved by your Faculty.

Without completion of this form, students cannot be guaranteed that courses studied overseas will be credited to their Victoria University of Wellington degree. It may also cause complications for your StudyLink payments if not completed prior to your exchange beginning.

Before you begin

You are eligible to receive no more or less than 60 credit points per trimester abroad (max of 120 points for one year of exchange) to be awarded at your Faculties’ and Schools’ discretion.

To graduate with a qualification from Victoria University of Wellington, half of all degree requirements must be completed at Victoria University of Wellington – including major requirements. The greater of 40 points or half the minimum requirements at 300 level or above for a Bachelor’s degree; and half the advanced points (200 level or above) requirements for a major in a Bachelor’s degree must be completed at Victoria University of Wellington.

Gaining exchange course approval

1. Meet with your Student Success Advisor

Contact your Student Success Advisor (found via Pūaha) to discuss your degree plan and what you are interested in studying on exchange, if you have not done so already. Student Success Advisors are able to offer guidance on how your overseas courses can best fit your Victoria University of Wellington degree. They will also provide you with a degree audit to help plan your exchange courses.

2. Research courses

Find course catalogues on your host university website and identify courses you wish to take while overseas. Keep in mind that the host university may use different terms when referring to courses. Some common examples are: modules, courses, papers, units and classes.

When looking through courses at your host university, take extra care to  make sure it is offered in the correct semester and language.

The most up to date university course catalogues may not be released yet, so use previous years’ course listings as a guide. There is no guarantee your preferred courses will be available.

3. Complete the Exchange Course Approval form

Download and complete the Exchange Course Approval form.

You will pay tuition for 60 credits points per trimester, so you need to take the equivalent of at least 3-4 Victoria University of Wellington courses while overseas (please check with your faculty if you are unsure how many courses you will need). You also need to meet the minimum full-time course load requirements. This will vary by host university so be sure to check this on the host university website.

Make sure to choose extra courses in the case that you are unable to get into some courses or you change your mind once you arrive. Also check if there are any restrictions or prerequisites that you must meet.

4. Gain Approval after receiving acceptance into your host university

Once you have received your official acceptance letter into your host university, make an appointment or send an email to your Programme Director to discuss and gain approval for each course.

When reaching out to them, make sure to have an accompanying document with all the necessary course information:

  • course name
  • course description
  • desired learning outcomes
  • point value
  • year and level of teaching
  • assessment workload
  • number of taught hours
  • course URL's
  • any other useful information.

If you do not have this information, it will make it more difficult to gain your approval.

Be sure to get onto this as early as possible as faculty staff are busy.

Please remember that the Wellington Global Exchange team are not academic advisors and cannot give course or credit transfer advice.

Once this form has been signed off by all relevant heads of school and faculty, save an electronic and hard copy for your own records and email a copy to Wellington Global Exchange.

Make sure approval is gained before beginning your exchange as this may affect your StudyLink payments.

Changing your courses

If you make changes to your preapproved courses, you must seek written email approval from your Victoria University of Wellington Faculty to ensure that you will receive appropriate credit.

Transfer of Credits from Host Institution

Students must achieve a Pass mark at the host institution to be granted Victoria University of Wellington credit. If a course is failed, no credits will be granted for it. Although exchange grades are not transferred to Victoria University of Wellington student records, they can be taken into consideration for some future programs and prerequisite requirements.

Exchange courses will be credited once an official transcript is received from the host institution and the student exchange evaluation has been submitted.

Exchange courses will be shown as transfer credit on Victoria University of Wellington transcripts and student records - 60 or 120 points earned from exchange.

It is the students’ responsibility to make sure an official transcript is sent directly from the host institution to the Wellington Global Exchange office (PO Box 600, Wellington, New Zealand 6140) or student-exchange@vuw.ac.nz