New Zealand Certificate in Animal Care - Companion Animals

Summary

Ready to kick-start your professional career working with animals? You might be straight out of school, already working with animals, or thinking about a career change. This programme covers all aspects of animal care, including their health, hygiene, behaviour, and handling. You’ll develop the practical knowledge and skills to care for a wide range of companion animals, such as dogs, cats, rabbits, rodents, reptiles, and birds, in various settings, including your home, pet shops, kennels, and catteries. We offer four flexible study options for this programme, designed to fit around your lifestyle whether you are working, have family commitments, or are based in Northland. We call this ‘Blended learning’ as it is a mixture of online, self-directed learning, supported by your lecturers, with two 5-day face-to-face sessions (block courses) that includes practical experience. This will either be at our Mt Albert campus, or at Northtec in Whangarei, depending on which option you have chosen. To study from a distance, you must be self-motivated, committed, and have excellent time management skills. To be successful in this type of programme you must attend all block courses, tests, practical assessments, and work experience, and complete your self-directed study (reading, revision) and assessment writing. You'll also need consistent access to a computer with a reliable internet connection and appropriate office software, e.g., Microsoft Office, which we'll provide once you‘re enrolled. If you learn better with routine, and the ongoing support of our teaching team, the onsite study option might be best for you. We have two to choose from – our February and September 1 intakes – see above Once you’ve graduated, you’ll be qualified to work in the animal care industry with limited supervision. Interested in more study? This programme will give you the academic admission requirements for higher-level animal programmes at Unitec, including: Under certain circumstances, graduates from this programme may also be accepted into the Bachelor of Applied Science