Otago Polytechnic is drawing inspiration from the United Kingdom for an expansion of its Capable New Zealand department.
Capable NZ assesses people on their existing knowledge and helps them fill in the gaps in their knowledge to gain qualifications.
The new approach allowed people to build a qualification around the requirements of their workplaces, Capable NZ project leader Kris Bennett said this week.
"This turns the traditional approach to education on its head. Instead of starting with subjects areas, we look at what skills people require in their workplace and tailor a qualification based around that."
It was expected people would use actual workplace projects as part of their studies, she said. Programmes could also be developed to support organisational goals such as customer services changes, strategic management or developing new technology.
Otago Polytechnic staff had been working on the plan for months and it had already attracted "huge interest" from employees who wanted to upskill and from employers who could see its benefits, Ms Bennett said.
Work-based qualifications had been offered in the UK for about 10 years, Ms Bennett said. Otago Polytechnic's programme, to be known as Capable Workplaces, would be based on the UK material but rewritten to suit New Zealand work situations.
A forum would be held in Wellington next month to ensure employers, human resources specialists and educational policy advisers understood the concept.
It was likely a similar forum would be held in Dunedin.
Capable NZ, formerly the Centre for the Assessment of Prior Learning, has become a major success for the polytechnic. Participation has grown 10-fold over the past decade.
