How do you get academic adjustments at a New Zealand university?

Short answer first: register with your university's disability service early, bring a letter or report from a health professional that explains how your condition affects study, and get your plan agreed before the deadline for exam arrangements. At Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland, the service is Student Disability Services; at Victoria it is Te Amaru; at Canterbury, Te Ratonga Whaikaha. Deadlines vary: Massey's for Semester Two 2026 is 28 September 2026, and AUT wants an active plan before the end of week 8. Section 57 of the Human Rights Act 1993 sits underneath all of it.

This is about getting support in place before you need it, at the seven universities that publish their process in detail: Auckland, AUT, Waikato, Massey, Victoria, Canterbury and Otago. Lincoln's Inclusive Education and Disability Support publishes less and appears only briefly. What happens after an exam goes wrong, through aegrotat or special consideration, is covered in exam preparation at New Zealand universities.

What does the law require of your university?

Two Acts matter, and neither lists specific adjustments. The Human Rights Act 1993 says what a university may not do. The Education and Training Act 2020 lets the Minister issue a code of practice, and the code says what universities must have in place. The Acts were read on legislation.govt.nz for this article, and the code on NZQA's site.

• Disability is a prohibited ground of discrimination. Section 21 of the Human Rights Act 1993 defines it widely, from physical impairment and psychiatric illness to intellectual or psychological impairment and reliance on a wheelchair or a disability assist dog.
• A university may not shut you out of its services on that ground. Section 57 makes it unlawful for an educational establishment, or anyone managing or teaching there, to refuse to admit you, admit you on worse terms, deny or restrict access to its benefits or services, or exclude you or subject you to any other detriment.
• The duty has a limit. Section 60 says section 57 does not apply where a student needs special services or facilities that cannot reasonably be made available in the circumstances.
• Your university must have practices for making arrangements. Clause 22(1)(h) of the Education (Pastoral Care of Tertiary and International Learners) Code of Practice 2021 requires providers to make arrangements with disabled learners to accommodate learning needs, including for study off campus, and clause 18(b) asks them to remove access barriers where possible. Section 534 of the Education and Training Act 2020 makes a code for domestic tertiary students binding on all providers.
• The Human Rights Commission counts a refusal as possible discrimination. Its reasonable accommodation guidelines say "a lack of reasonable accommodation can be a form of discrimination", and the Commission offers free mediation.

For you, a request is judged on what is reasonable in the circumstances, not against a fixed list. The law gives you standing to ask and somewhere to take a complaint. The university's own policy decides what you get and how fast, and that is where the rest of this article spends its time.

Where does the Kia Ōrite code fit?

Kia Ōrite is sector guidance, not an Act. ACHIEVE describes the Kia Ōrite Toolkit as a New Zealand code of practice for an inclusive and equitable tertiary environment for disabled learners, developed by experts from across the sector and coordinated by Achieve. It rebuilds the earlier Kia Ōrite Code of Practice, which guided institutions for over 15 years.

• Otago lists it as a tool for all staff. Otago's Disability Information and Support names it the New Zealand Code of Practice for an Inclusive Tertiary Education Environment for Students with Impairments, and says it is not only for people working in disability services.
• Auckland points its teachers to it. Auckland's Inclusive Learning and Teaching for Disability Guidelines, reviewed on 19 August 2026, list the toolkit as a resource and ask teachers to say in the first lecture of every course that students may raise disability-related requirements privately.

Kia Ōrite helps most when the barrier sits in how a course is taught: slides that arrive too late to use, videos without captions, a lab bench you cannot reach. Pointing to it tells staff that what you are asking for matches the sector's own guidance.

Which service do you contact at your university?

At each of the seven universities, disability support runs through a central service, and Auckland adds a second one for neurodivergent students. The names differ, and so does the name of the document that records your support, which matters when you search a site or write your first email. Registering is separate from being admitted: Victoria's Te Amaru takes registrations from prospective students at any time.

Registering does not mean every lecturer learns your diagnosis. Auckland says sharing information is your choice and that it passes on only what staff need; Waikato says your RAP can be shared with lecturers with your permission; AUT tells your lecturers and faculty what support you need and who provides it. AUT, Lincoln and Otago keep the arrangements off your transcript or record.

What evidence will the service ask for?

The services want to know how a condition affects your study, not only what it is called. Each sets its own rule on who may write the evidence and how old it may be, and several let you start before the paperwork is complete.

• Victoria wants a report from a registered health professional. Te Amaru's registration page names a doctor, specialist, psychologist, counsellor or educational psychologist, asks that the report describe the likely impact on your study, and offers a form you can hand to that professional.
• Canterbury accepts evidence up to four years old. Its supporting evidence page asks for a diagnosis, report or letter signed by a clinical professional, or an official letter from your school listing the exam supports you had. Specific learning difficulties must be assessed by a registered psychologist or a registered Level C assessor, and provisional support is possible while you gather documents.
• Auckland wants up-to-date, independent evidence for special conditions. That can be a letter from your school, another tertiary provider or an awarding body such as NZQA, or a letter from a doctor, therapist or educational psychologist.
• AUT names who can verify. A GP, an educational or clinical psychologist, or a registered disability provider such as Blind Low Vision NZ or Deaf Aotearoa, and AUT may help you get an external assessment if you have none.
• Otago asks before support is arranged. Its study and exam support page wants documentation from a relevant health professional at your first appointment, and covers conditions that affect study for four weeks or more.
• Waikato lets you register without it. Documentation helps, but you can submit the request and upload documents later.

If you had special assessment conditions at school, ask your school for the letter now: Auckland and Canterbury both accept it. At Canterbury you also re-register each academic year, and the service emails you towards the end of each year.

How are test and exam arrangements made?

Once a plan is in place, final exams are usually handled for you, while tests during the semester often need a request of their own. Most of the seven set a cut-off for new arrangements before each exam period, and the cut-offs are far apart.

• Auckland adds extra time automatically once approved. Extra time applies to the exam's own duration, not to the 30 minutes all students get for technical problems in digital exams or the 10 minutes of reading time in paper exams, and you renew your special conditions each semester through the Student Access Portal.
• Canterbury organises exam arrangements for registered students. Its exam page puts everyone with special arrangements in a room separate from the main cohort, confirms the room in the Final Timetable emailed on the last day of term, and needs 10 working days' notice for a test that is not formally timetabled.
• Otago sets a standard for extra time. Otago's alternative arrangements page puts it at 10 minutes per hour of examination, you apply in eVision once the exam timetable is visible, and a form for tests and internal exams goes in at least 10 days ahead.
• Waikato needs dates for tests only. Its alternative arrangements page asks for at least 10 working days' notice before a test; exams are coordinated automatically.
• Massey can make arrangements permanent. If your condition is permanent, Massey's exam arrangements page says your arrangements are likely to be made permanent for your time there, and you hear the outcome about 3 weeks before exams.

The deadlines, as each university publishes them

As of 25 September 2026, the two dated deadlines still ahead for this year's final exams are Massey's and Canterbury's; Canterbury's Student Accessibility Service page adds that changes to existing arrangements must be confirmed by the same date. Otago's Semester 2 date has passed, so its next is Summer School on 1 February.

When something happens close to an exam

A new injury or illness shortly before exams can need a different route. Auckland's special conditions page says Assessment Services needs ten working days to put special conditions in place for a temporary impairment, and that you can apply for an aegrotat if your exam falls inside that window. Canterbury sends you to special consideration when you are 5 working days or less from the assessment. How those processes work is in the exam article linked above.

Which adjustments can you ask for in class?

Exam arrangements get most of the attention, but most of your week happens in lectures, labs and tutorials. The services offer a similar core; what differs is who provides it, how much notice it needs and what you are expected to do in return.

• Note-taking comes with conditions. At Victoria, Te Amaru's note-takers provide typed summaries after each lecture for students with complex needs, and Genio note-taking software is offered if you cannot take full notes yourself. Canterbury's note-takers expect you to attend every lecture they cover. Otago offers peer and electronic note-taking. Waikato's note-taking page starts with recorded lectures and online notes, and warns that notes may be AI-generated depending on availability.
• Interpreters need lead time. Canterbury asks for at least four weeks' notice to book a New Zealand Sign Language interpreter. Massey's Disability Services says NZSL interpretation, specialist support roles and placement changes take longer to arrange, and that enrolment may need to move to a later semester if there is not enough time.
• Formats and equipment can change. Otago can supply printed material in large print, plain English, digital, audio or e-text, and can provide library, laboratory or field work assistants for the physical side of a course.

Recording and recorded lectures

Permission to record is one adjustment you can ask for, and at Auckland it has a formal home. The university's Recording of Taught Content Policy and Procedures tells teachers to follow the Reasonable Accommodations for Disability Policy when deciding whether to record for disabled students, and says students need a teacher's permission to make their own recording. The general rules on recording are in may you record a lecture in New Zealand, and what the universities' own recordings give you is in lecture capture at New Zealand universities.

A lighter load that keeps your allowance

A reduced study load is an adjustment too, and it has a money side. StudyLink's page on part-time study says it may class you as full-time while you study part-time, which it calls Limited Full Time, when a medical condition or a reason you cannot control, such as disability, stops you studying full-time. You and a staff member at your university fill in the form together. Canterbury tells students to ask their accessibility advisor about it.

What can you do if the answer is no?

A no is not always final, and a partial yes is common. The Commission's guidelines give an education example: a Deaf student asked for captions on pre-recorded lectures, the lecturer declined, citing the technology, and provided a written transcript instead. The steps below follow the Commission's tips and the universities' published procedures.

1. Ask what was decided, why, and how the request was considered, and ask for the answer in writing. The Commission's guidelines say you may request information about what was, and was not, done in response to your request.
2. Describe the barrier in plain terms and offer another way to remove it. The guidelines say a request may be declined as an undue burden, and that everyone should be ready to discuss alternatives.
3. Use the university's own route. Auckland's Reasonable Accommodations for Disability Procedures set targets of acknowledgement within five working days and a decision within 20 working days, then escalate a complaint from the service to its manager and to the Associate Director Student Success and Wellbeing. After that comes the Student Academic Complaints Statute or a review by the Registrar, whose decision is final. Otago's service asks you to approach the person who provided the service first, then put the complaint in writing.
4. Take it to the Human Rights Commission. Its complaints page describes a free, confidential dispute resolution service that does not decide whether the law was breached; an unresolved complaint can go to the Human Rights Review Tribunal, with free legal representation available on application from the Office of Human Rights Proceedings.

Keep copies of every email and the evidence you supplied. A clear record of what you asked for, when, and what came back makes each later step shorter.

Where Notibo fits

Notibo is a study tool, not an adjustment, and it does not replace anything your disability service arranges. Where your plan or your lecturer gives you permission to record, Notibo can record the lecture on a computer or take an audio file you upload, then return a transcript and structured notes; on Pro it also makes flashcards with spaced repetition from the recording. You can correct the transcript and notes and export them as PDF or Word, which can sit beside a note-taker's summary. If slides arrive early, it turns PDF, PPTX and DOCX files into notes and flashcards. In Chrome or Edge it can take the sound of a browser tab, for example an online class you have permission to record.

The transcription page explains the process. You get Pro free for 14 days, with 240 minutes of audio, and no card is asked for. After those 14 days the free plan gives 30 minutes of audio a month; Pro costs 9.99 euro a month or 88.99 euro a year. Files are stored in the EU, and transcription and the AI notes run on US processors named in the privacy policy. Record classmates only with their permission.