What's best for you?

Are you wanting to continue to study after you leave St Bernard's? There are many diffent options including university, poly tech, earn while you learn, online, part time or full time. Your job is to figure out what is best for you.

Your next steps...

Learning Styles

Knowing how you best learn is helpful when choosing your next steps. There are many different ways to group learning styles and the VARK model is one of the most popular, specifically designed to help students.

According to the VARK model, learners are identified by whether they have a preference for:

Visual learning: pictures, movies, diagrams

Auditory learning: music, discussion, lectures

Reading and Writing: making lists, reading textbooks, taking notes

Kinesthetic learning: movement, experiments, hands-on activities

When making decisions about career pathways, it's important to consider how you like to learn and the environments you like to learn in. You can take the VARK questionnaire and find out more about your learning style.

Click here to start the VARK questionnaire

Questions to ask yourself

• Are you an independent learner who always meets deadlines?

• Do you feel more comfortable creating or doing hands-on learning or in a lecture/classroom environment?

• Do you like the idea of being in lecture rooms with lots of people or would prefer a smaller classroom environment?

• Would you like to earn money while studying?

• How do you see yourself holding down a job while you study?

• What scares you about going to university? 

• What scares you about accepting a traineeship or apprenticeship or going straight into work?

• Do you feel pressured to make a certain decision?

• Why, why not?

• What is your gut telling you?

New Zealand Universities 

Apprenticeships 

Apprenticeships are where you “earn while you learn”. Majority of the training is “on-the-job”. On completion, apprentices gain one or more national certificates and become qualified in the associated trade. In New Zealand, currently there is a high demand for apprenticeships in a range of different industries.

Institute of Technologies & Polytechnics 

If you are looking for a more practical style of learning and smaller class sizes you may want to consider an ITP or polytechnic. They have a range of subjects available and are often focused on an end job. Each institution has a range of qualifications ranging from a certificate (NZQA Level 3⁄4) to a degree (NZQA Level 7). Programmes are designed to suit people of all ages and stages of education.

• For more information on Institutes of Technologies and Polytechnics outside of Wellington, please contact Ms Bull for more information.

Private Training Providers

New Zealand has a huge number of Private Training Establishments (PTEs) and they are all very different in what they offer and teach. What links them all is that they are required to be registered with the New Zealand Qualifications Authority and their curriculum and academic standards must meet national standards.

Wānanga

Wānanga are publicly owned tertiary institutions that focus on practical learning and embrace learning and teaching in a Māori cultural context. Tertiary study is available from NZQA Level 3 to Level 10. The three wānanga’s are:

NZ Defence Force

The New Zealand Defence Force includes the Army, the Navy and the Airforce. The primary purpose of the NZ Defence Force is to defend New Zealand in time of war. Peacekeeping and assisting in disasters are other key roles.

There are up to 80 different, diverse roles within the NZ Defence Force from combat to engineering officers. One of the key benefits of working within the NZ defence force is the ability to “earn while you learn”.