First aid unit 6400 series standard review / skill standard development 2025

First aid unit standard review 2025
National consultation – draft outcomes

43 people responded to an online survey published in March 2025, and TTW met with 12 providers in May 2025. Questions centred around the following themes:

• Appropriateness of credit weightings.
• Appropriateness of course duration.
• Refresher training.
• Usefulness of unit standard 33319.
• Developing a national curriculum.
• Impact of credit change on small first aid providers.

A summary of consultation outcomes can be perused in this document.

• Drafts of the three new skill standards are here: 400XX Provide basic life support; 400XX Provide first aid; 40XXX Manage first aid in an emergency situation
• Drafts of two new micro-credentials are here: Foundation first aid (Level 2, 2 credits); Manage basic life support and first aid in an emergency situation (Level 3, 3 credits).

We would appreciate feedback on the draft outcomes prior to Wednesday 13 August 2025. Please email us at [email protected] and we will be in contact.

Draft outcomes 

• Unit standards 6400, 6401, and 6402 will be replaced by three one-credit skill standards that share the same content (40XXX – Provide basic life support; 40XXX – Provide First Aid; 40XXX – Manage First Aid in an emergency situation).
• Unit standards 6400, 6401, and 6402 will be set to expire on 31 December 2027.
• The current 12-hour minimum duration of training and assessment for 6400, 6401, and 6402 will remain as is for new skill standard assessment and award.
• Refresher training and certification will remain as is, with no new skill standard development.
• TTW has considerable reservations about expiring unit standard 33319 given it was designed to offer tangata whaikaha an opportunity to demonstrate CPR skills. Equally, very low uptake of the standard might suggest that either a) providers are wary of offering it, or b) that they are simply not aware of it. TTW intends to re-advertise 33319 in Q3 2025; the Industry Skills Board that will take over first aid standard setting on 1 January 2026 will make a decision on its future in Q4 2026 or Q1 2027.
• There was considerable support for developing a national curriculum (referred by NZQA as a ‘national programme’ and tied in with micro-credential delivery and award) for sector consultation. However, discussion with NZQA in July 2025 following the first round of consultation suggested that a national programme would not be suitable for micro-credential awards. Therefore, we will focus our efforts on editing First Aid as a Life Skill to present proposed curricula.
• The existing Manage First Aid in an Emergency Situation (Micro-credential 5084) will be set to expire on 31 December 2027.
• Manage First Aid in an Emergency Situation (Micro-credential – 5084) will be replaced with a new three credit micro-credential assessed by the three one-credit skill standards.
• A new two credit micro-credential covering CPR and basic first aid will be listed on the NZQCF, provisionally titled Foundation First Aid. It will be assessed by the two new skill standards which assess competency in basic first aid and CPR.
• TTW canvassed the need for a new one credit micro-credential potentially titled Manage first aid in an emergency situation, assessed by the new skill standard. Based on feedback, we are not proposing to develop it – learners will have the opportunity of taking either the three-credit or two-credit micro-credential (points 8 and 9, above).
• TTW will submit applications to NZQA in late August 2025 for three new one-credit skill standards and for two new micro-credentials. We would hope they are listed on the DASS / NZQCF prior to our disestablishment on 31 December 2025. If they are not, the applications will transfer to the new Industry Skills Board from 1 January 2026.
• A new version of First Aid as a Life Skill will reflect the proposed outcomes listed above and will be published for sector consultation in September or October 2025.

Skill standard changes

Content of the new skill standards and existing unit standards is virtually identical, but there are some changes of note:

• Skill standards do not include range statements in the same fashion as unit standards – where range statements are included in the skill standards they are contained in the ‘For assessment purposes’ section below learning outcomes and assessment criteria.
• Some information contained in ‘Assessment conditions’ in the 6400 series unit standards will be moved to First Aid as a Life Skill – in particular, specific instructions to training providers about assessment checklists.
• 40XXX Provide First Aid wording for medical emergencies has added asthma exacerbation, and diabetic emergency to separate them out from routine clinical management of the conditions. Additionally, severe allergic reaction has been added.
• 40XXX Manage first aid in an emergency situation wording has added thermal burns to potential major injury examples and is suggesting that internal injuries described in unit standard 6400 is renamed as internal bleeding. Additionally, severe allergic reaction has been added to potential major medical conditions.

The review will consider the following unit standards:

Context – Manage First Aid in an Emergency Situation (Micro-credential) – Level 3, 5 credits

NZQA approved our Manage First Aid in an Emergency Situation micro-credential in November 2024. The micro-credential was designed to a) provide a NZQCF-listed credential which providers can award to learners at their own discretion, and b) provide a replacement qualification to a range of NZQA-approved training schemes.

NZQA approved the micro-credential with the stipulation that Toitū te Waiora should conduct a review in 2025 of credit weighting in unit standards 6400, 6401, 6402, which are used to assess learner competency prior to award of the micro-credential. They raised concerns during the approval process about potential over-crediting of unit standards 6400, 6401, and 6402.

Several Tertiary Education Organisations (‘TEO’) award NZQA-approved first aid training schemes that assess against unit standards 6400, 6401, and 6402. As training schemes are in the process of being converted into micro-credentials listed on the NZQCF, NZQA require us to consider unit standard credits prior to them undertaking conversion work with TEO who deliver and award first aid training schemes. They have stated that conversion of existing first aid training schemes into micro-credential awards will commence in early 2026.

A consideration for the review is whether it is appropriate for these unit standards to change in credit weighting. For example, if a learner can only demonstrate safe competency against learning outcomes over a 50-hour learning period (which the current credits would suggest), altering credits would be undesirable.

Therefore, dependent on unit standard review outcomes, credit weighting of the Manage First Aid in an Emergency Situation micro-credential will either remain as is, or will change.

The issue

NZQA have directed that a requirement in Consent and Moderation Requirements (CMR) for First Aid (version 5) stating minimum duration of training for unit standards 6400, 6401, and 6402, should be reviewed. The specific requirement is:

The minimum duration of first aid training and assessment for training based on standards 6400, 6401, and 6402 is 12 hours of training and assessment, and for standards 6401 and 6402 or standards 26551 and 26552 it is eight hours of training and assessment.

NZQA consider that the 12-hour minimum duration is at odds with the 50 notional hours of teaching, learning, and assessment that the combined credit value of standards 6400, 6401, and 6402 would suggest.

Therefore, Toitū te Waiora intends to review credit weightings of unit standards 6400, 6401, and 6402 in May 2025.  It should be noted that due to NZQA’s commitment to progressively replace unit standards with skill standards, a certain outcome of this review will be the replacement of all existing unit standards with new skill standards.

Arrangements for expiry of current unit standards will be communicated with the sector when skill standards are listed by NZQA, along with a suitable transition period, as will any changes made to Consent and Moderation Requirements.

Other considerations in this review

• Refresher courses for 6400, 6401, and 6402, and potential credit reporting.
• The future of unit standard 33319.
• The potential for formal self-regulation, managed by the sector.

Timings of this review

• Toitū te Waiora will consult with all interested parties during May 2025.
• Draft skill standards will be published for perusal in July 2025.
• Skill standards will be submitted to NZQA in August 2025.
• Any revisions to the Manage First Aid in an Emergency Situation micro-credential will be submitted to NZQA in August 2025.
• Any changes required to Consent and Moderation Requirements (CMR) for First Aid (version 5) – or an alternative CMR that may be approved in the interim – will be submitted to NZQA when the new skill standards are listed.