Do you have to attend lectures at a New Zealand university?

Short answer first: usually only when your course, paper or programme says so. Otago can set terms, a minimum of attendance or work before you may sit the final exam. Victoria can set a mandatory course requirement, and missing it brings a failing K grade even with a pass mark. Massey fails a student who misses a compulsory lab, field trip or contact workshop without an exemption. Auckland, Otago and Victoria bar marks for simply turning up, and at Auckland a student who stops going without withdrawing gets a Did not sit, which counts as a fail.

The rules below come from the regulations, assessment policies and student pages of the eight universities, read in September 2026. They cover when attendance becomes compulsory, whether it can earn marks, which programmes need you there in person, what a missed session costs and what to do about it. Visa conditions for international students get one line, with a link to the full picture.

Is attending lectures compulsory at New Zealand universities?

Not as a blanket rule in any of the regulations read for this guide. The universities state an expectation instead, and leave it to each course or paper to turn attendance into a requirement where there is a reason. Four of them put the expectation in writing. The gap between expected and required is the gap between a missed opportunity and a failed course.

• Otago expects you at every scheduled class. In its entry on timetable clashes, Otago's glossary of study terms says students are expected to attend all scheduled teaching events, including lectures, tutorials and laboratories.
• Canterbury lists it among your duties. Its Assessment Policy and Principles make students responsible for attending classes and doing the work of a course to the best of their ability.
• Lincoln puts it in the code of conduct. Its Student Code of Conduct expects students to contribute to their learning by attending classes and meeting their course requirements.
• AUT asks you to tell someone. Its guide to what to expect from university study lists attending all your classes as a personal responsibility and suggests letting your lecturer or a student advisor know when you cannot. It estimates 30 to 50 hours of class time per course each semester, within about 150 hours of total work.
• Auckland defines completion by it. Under its Enrolment and Programme Regulations, completing a course means attending all required classes, submitting required assessment, sitting required exams and passing.

These are expectations. The rules that can cost you a grade sit at course level, where each university requires them to be announced, usually in the outline. Read it in the first week and mark every session it calls compulsory, required or a condition of sitting the exam.

When can a course or paper make attendance compulsory?

Each of the eight has courses or programmes that require attendance, and the universities with detailed rules attach conditions: the requirement must serve a purpose, be announced at the start and, at several, be explained. Each uses its own word for it, and that word is what to look for in your outline. The table sets out the word, the result of missing it and the rule on marks.

• Otago: terms. Its Guidelines for the Assessment of Student Performance allow terms, a minimum level of attendance or experience before the exam can be sat or a grade awarded, where there is a clear rationale. Students must be told in the paper information and in the first class, and monitoring needs early warning and an appeal route.
• Victoria: mandatory course requirements. Its Assessment Handbook lets a course set requirements beyond a pass mark, stated with a justification in the course outline. One demanding 100 per cent attendance at an activity must be essential, allow for special personal circumstances and be approved by the Associate Dean, and any compulsory lecture attendance needs that approval too.
• Canterbury: conditions before the exam. Clause 3.4 of its policy lets the course coordinator set conditions, such as minimum attendance, before the exam can be sat or a pass awarded. They must appear in the course outline and the university's course systems, with the reason explained.
• Massey: compulsory attendance, in writing. Regulation 63 of its assessment and examination regulations lets courses require attendance at laboratories, field trips, practical exercises, contact workshops or block courses, and the course coordinator must say so in writing at the start.
• Waikato: requirements in the paper outline. Its Assessment Regulations count attendance requirements as part of internal assessment, and compulsory items and hurdle assessments must be named in the paper outline.
• Auckland: set by faculty and course. Its law school, for one, makes lecture attendance compulsory in all internally assessed courses and LLB(Hons) seminars.

Can a course give or take marks for attendance?

Three universities answer in plain words, and the answer is no. The line they draw runs between being present and taking part. Contributing to a tutorial discussion can be assessed if the criteria are published; simply turning up cannot. Auckland adds one rule that works the other way, where attendance decides whether a benefit applies.

• Auckland: participation yes, attendance no. Clause 16 of its Assessment of Courses Procedures stops courses allocating weighted assessment for attendance as distinct from participation, and requires a clear description of the criteria wherever participation earns marks.
• Otago: no grading credit. Its guidelines say final grades must reflect performance on the paper's objectives, and that grading credit for attending class sessions is not appropriate.
• Victoria: neither added nor deducted. The handbook says marks must not be allocated or deducted for simple attendance or non-attendance, and asks that participation marking give every student an equal chance to take part.
• Auckland: attendance can still gate plussage. The same procedures allow eligibility for plussage, where your exam mark can count in place of coursework if that helps you, to depend on attending laboratories or tutorials.

A tutorial mark labelled participation rewards what you say and do, so perfect attendance in silence may earn little. Read the criteria in the outline and bring one question or point to each session.

Which programmes need you there in person?

Professional and practical degrees are where attendance stops being negotiable, because a registration body or the degree's own regulations count hours or days. These requirements sit on top of course rules, and missing them usually means making the time up rather than losing marks. They are also the requirements most likely to clash with paid work.

• Social work counts days. The Social Workers Registration Board's Education Standards, in effect from 1 January 2026, require field education placements totalling at least 900 hours across 120 to 150 days, at the equivalent of at least three days a week, with one placement of at least 375 hours or 50 full-time days.
• Programmes must spell it out. The same standards require social work programmes to give students course information that includes attendance requirements, and distance programmes to include at least 20 days of in-person skills teaching.
• AUT occupational therapy logs hours. AUT's fieldwork guidelines set a minimum of 1,000 fieldwork hours for the programme, say attendance on the longitudinal fieldwork experience is compulsory, and require students who miss several days to apply for an extension and make the hours up.
• Lincoln writes a field tour into a degree. The regulations summary for the Bachelor of Viticulture and Oenology includes attendance at a multi-day field tour in the final year and completion of all practical work components.

If your degree leads to registration, treat every placement hour as something you will be asked to prove. AUT's guidelines tell occupational therapy students to plan to be free of work commitments on fieldwork days, and that advice travels. Tell the placement coordinator the moment illness or family trouble threatens a day.

Does watching the recording count?

Not in the policies and advice read for this guide. Canterbury's Lecture Recording Policy makes it a student responsibility to use recordings as a supplementary resource, a revision or catch-up tool, and not as a substitute for regular lecture attendance. Otago's advice for first-year students says podcasts and notes are not a substitute for hearing a lecture first hand. What each university records and how you can use it is in the lecture capture guide.

Can staying away end your enrolment?

At Auckland it can, and at any university it can cost a visa or a grade you never meant to get. The risk is quiet: nobody may take a roll, but the result arrives at the end of the semester or at your next application. Three Auckland regulations and one visa condition show how it works.

• A Did not sit counts as a fail. Regulation 58e of Auckland's Enrolment and Programme Regulations says a student who stops attending lectures without withdrawing through the approved process is recorded as Did not sit, which counts as a failure for all purposes.
• A semester of them can end a programme. Under regulation 19e, a student with Did not sit or Did not complete grades on all courses in a semester may have future enrolments deleted and the programme discontinued; regulation 19f allows an application for reconsideration on medical or other exceptional grounds.
• First-semester disengagement is watched. Regulation 19b lets Auckland discontinue a first-semester student in New Start, a foundation programme or an undergraduate degree who does not actively engage in the first four weeks and is judged unlikely to complete, with a full refund of fees for the deleted courses.
• Visa holders must attend. Immigration New Zealand's Fee Paying Student Visa page says you must attend the course noted on your visa unless you have good reason for absences; the full conditions are in the international students guide.

If you are going to stop, withdraw properly before the deadline. If you are struggling, say so early. Both keep options open that silence closes.

What happens if you miss a compulsory session?

The result depends on the word your university uses. Most of these requirements are pass-or-fail conditions rather than marks, which is how missing one can sink a course you were otherwise passing. Several build in a second chance, and that is the part to know before you need it.

• Otago: no final exam. Its AskOtago answer on failed terms says a student who has not met a paper's terms cannot sit the final exam, is told by the department before the exam period, and gets an official result of Failed Terms.
• Victoria: a K grade, with a second chance where feasible. The handbook gives a failing K to a student with an overall mark of 50 per cent or more who missed a mandatory requirement, and says the student should, where feasible, get another opportunity to meet it.
• Massey: a DC. Its regulations make missing a compulsory session without an exemption a failure in the course regardless of the rest of the assessment, recorded as Did Not Complete.
• Waikato: one reassessment for a hurdle. Its regulations entitle a student who fails a hurdle assessment to one reassessment opportunity, and a missing compulsory item leads to an IC annotation.

The pattern holds wherever the rules are detailed: a requirement has to be announced, so the outline tells you exactly what you cannot miss. Put those sessions in your calendar before anything else, including shifts.

What should you do if you cannot attend?

Act before the session if you can, and on the day if you cannot. The universities that allow exemptions or waivers attach them to a person's decision, and that person needs to hear from you. A late explanation still beats none, but it narrows the options.

1. Find the requirement in the outline, the word used for it and any substitute it names.
2. Email the course coordinator or paper co-ordinator before the session, with the reason and any evidence.
3. Ask whether a substitute, another session or a waiver is possible; Victoria's handbook lets the coordinator waive a requirement for special personal circumstances and asks that substitutes be considered.
4. If an assessed session is involved, apply for special consideration or your university's equivalent within its deadline; the rules are in the exam preparation guide.
5. Catch up on the content in the same week.

If you are ill, injured or caring for someone

A long absence needs more than a one-off email. Massey's regulations let a student prevented by exceptional personal circumstances from a compulsory learning experience apply through its Specific Circumstances process. If the cause is ongoing, such as a disability or a chronic illness, arrange adjustments through your university's disability service before the compulsory sessions start; the route is set out in the academic adjustments guide.

If you want to stop going altogether

Withdraw through the official process rather than disappearing. At Auckland a withdrawal stays on your record as a withdrawal, not a fail, whereas simply stopping leads to a Did not sit. Auckland also accepts a withdrawal after the published deadline only in exceptional circumstances with evidence, and does not refund fees for a withdrawn course, so check your own university's dates before you decide.

How do you catch up on a lecture you missed?

Treat a missed lecture as homework due before the next one. Get the slides and any recording from the course page, read the part of the reading it covered, and write a one-page summary in your own words. Then take one specific question to the next tutorial. A classmate's notes help, but check them against the slides rather than copying them wholesale.

Where Notibo fits

Notibo is for lectures you attend, not a way to skip them. With the lecturer's permission, it records a lecture on a computer and returns a transcript and structured notes, so you can listen in the room and write less. It also turns PDF, PPTX and DOCX files into notes and flashcards. 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 covers 30 minutes of audio a month, with a transcript and notes.

Two limits apply. Recording needs permission, and Canterbury's policy requires the explicit permission of the staff member. Some universities also restrict putting course material into outside AI tools, so check your university's generative AI rules first. Flashcards with spaced repetition from a recording come with Pro, at 9.99 euro a month or 88.99 euro a year; more on lecture recording.