International Academy of New Zealand investigated by the NZQA for poor practice

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Almost 400 students at an English language school will have to resit their exam after the NZQA investigated allegations of poor practice.

The students, who study with the International Academy of New Zealand, will have to be reassessed to confirm their marks. There is no cost to the students for this.

Newshub reported that two IANZ staff members were instructed to prepare hundreds of fake English language entry tests or face losing their jobs.

Former employee Jaswinder Kaur told Newshub she was told to make the score five or higher to ensure the student passed and complied with NZQA requirements.

"All the numbers we put here is fake."

NZQA deputy chief executive Dr Grant Klinkum said the resit affected the international students enrolled in IANZ's national diploma in business as their assessment practices were unsatisfactory.

"The 380 students enrolled in this programme will be supported through a re-assessment process to confirm they have achieved the marks and credits they have already been awarded so that they are prepared for ongoing study.

"NZQA is working with the new owners, IANZ, and Immigration New Zealand to make sure students are looked after and know what their options are."

The academy, which offers courses in business and management, is selling its business to another private training establishment EDENZ Colleges 2016 Ltd.

NZQA states that they are highly confident EDENZ is capable. They have approval to deliver programmes that are suitable for IANZ's 650 students.

Klinkum said if the sale didn't take place one option would have been to shut the institution down.

More details are available on the NZQA website at www.nzqa.govt.nz.