Statement from the Chair of Universities New Zealand

The Chair of Universities New Zealand, Professor Stuart McCutcheon, strongly denies that universities are relaxing standards for either entering university or passing courses.

Universities generally have been raising entry standards.

For example, a decade ago at the University of Auckland, 35% of domestic students entering from school had grade point averages of more than five. This has risen to 55% this year, but pass rates have not changed significantly.

It doesn't make sense that you would raise your entry standards and then tell your staff to let everybody through.

It is certainly the case that universities are concerned about student retention. Some students, particularly from low decile schools, are often less prepared as they might be, and this often includes Māori and Pasifika students. While universities put a lot of effort into supporting students, they do not lower standards to enable students to succeed.

The Performance-Based Research Fund is important to emerging and experienced researchers – and to their reputation and to ours.  There are mechanisms in place to ensure research is of a high standard. After all, the Government will not just give us the money and not care about the quality of the research.

Finally, New Zealand’s universities all value their international reputation for delivering high quality education. All eight universities are ranked in the top 3% (500) in the world.  We would not put this at risk.  This is how we attract the best academics and researchers from around the world, which in turn attracts quality students - despite having the lowest income per student in the western world.