The Health and Wellbeing skill standard development project was launched in January 2025 following completion of Health and Wellbeing qualification reviews in October 2024. The reviews highlighted that current qualifications were no longer fully reflecting the diverse roles and evolving needs of the sector.
This led in part to development of new qualifications (e.g. the New Zealand Certificates in Disability Support at levels 3 and 4, the New Zealand Certificate in Long Term Conditions at level 3), and also development of new skill standards which will – in the long term – replace unit standards used for assessment in existing programmes of study.
Development of an entirely new set of health and wellbeing skill standards given there are over 300 existing unit standards will obviously take some time. We have started the work with development of a new set of core skill standards at levels 2, 3, and 4. These standards are – as their name would suggest – designed to provide core assessments in programmes of study leading to Health and Wellbeing qualifications.
The core skill standard work will be followed by the development of role-specific skill standards managed by the incoming Industry Skills Board, who will take over development and review functions of the Health and Wellbeing qualifications and standards on 1 January 2026.
Over the past six months, we have collaborated with subject matter experts from across the sector to develop a set of core skill standards that are transferable across different roles and environments within the health and wellbeing sector.
Initial consultation revealed a strong desire for the skill standards to be significantly different to existing unit standards rather than undertaking a simple conversion of existing unit standards.
As a result, we have taken a fresh approach and developed 12 core skill standards offered in sets of four at Levels 2, 3, and 4.
These standards are designed to build on one another with increasing complexity across the levels and to accommodate different entry points. Our initial thinking was to structure these as four 10 credit standards at each level covering the following subject areas:
A. Understanding self and role.
B. Understanding the person being supported and their needs.
C. Culturally appropriate/responsive support and communication.
D. Safe working practices.
Following discussions with our development and review groups we are now proposing that Level 4 increases to four 15-credit standards.
Please note that the current unit standards are not being set to expire at this stage, and that expiry dates will be clearly communicated to providers well in advance.
National consultation on the draft skill standards closed at the end of August 2025. We would like to thank everyone who shared their expertise, experiences, and perspectives during this process. Your feedback is helping ensure the standards reflect the needs of the sector. Summary of the feedback received can be found [here].
We have developed comprehensive Guidance Notes to support providers who want to deliver programmes of study assessed by these skill standards. A copy of the draft guidance is available here (DRAFT Guidance notes PDF).
Guidance notes will be finalised once skill standards have been approved.
We greatly appreciate the contributions of all those who have participated in the development process to date. Feedback gathered has been used to refine the core skill standards ahead of submission to NZQA for approval in September. We will notify you when these standards have been approved.
These core standards aim to provide employers with a clear understanding of the capabilities they can expect from Health and Wellbeing graduates, while also supporting transferability of skills across a wide range of roles and settings. The role-specific skill standards that follow will build on this foundation, enabling the development of competencies tailored to particular roles and environments.
