The New Zealand Vice-Chancellors’ Committee (operating as Universities New Zealand – Te Pōkai Tara) is the statutory body primarily responsible for quality assurance of all eight New Zealand universities.
The committee carries out this important work through an operationally independent agency: Matatāhuna-Universities Quality Assurance Agency (UQAA).
UQAA replaces the Academic Quality Agency (AQA), which was disestablished by the New Zealand Vice-Chancellors Committee at the end of 2024. Since that date, the work of AQA has been continued by a Transitional Academic Audit Committee while a new Agency was developed.
The purpose of the UQAA is to:
- Ensure confidence, nationally and internationally, in the academic quality of New Zealand universities.
- Apply quality assurance and quality enhancement processes that assist universities to ensure that students are provided with high-quality learning experiences.
- Provide the NZVCC and its committees with advice on international and national good practice in relation to academic quality assurance.
Although established and funded by the NZVCC, UQAA is operationally independent in the conduct of its quality assurance activities. Neither the NZVCC or individual Vice-Chancellors will influence reviews or reports conducted and written by UQAA.
UQAA is being set up now and updates will be posted on our news page. You can find previous quality assurance information at the Academic Quality Agency website.
Programme approvals - 2026 update
An in-principle decision has been made to move to audited self-accreditation of academic programmes by individual universities.
This will mean the cessation of the Committee on University Academic Programmes (CUAP) by the end of 2027. Until then, the CUAP process remains in place.
Read the current CUAP Handbook (updated 2025).
A national framework of agreed standards and guidelines for self-accreditation is being developed. Once in place, individual universities will have their own institutional frameworks that operate in line with the national framework. Each university will have the autonomy to approve and modify academic programmes.
Key principles will include:
- provision for external peer review
- compliance with the New Zealand Qualifications and Credentials Framework
- common guidelines for nomenclature
- Institutional processes will be assessed by Matatāhuna UQAA as part of their regular processes