Project Management

71353

This course is a cross-disciplinary management oriented course. It is useful for people who wish to manage projects in the business, management, construction and information technology environments.

Availability

Our distance learning courses are offered throughout the year to help you fit study around your work and life commitments.
Courses are offered up to 12 times per year depending on demand and availability of academic staff.
Exact start dates are in the course information pages and in our Enrolment dates page:

Enrolment dates

Cost

Course costs can be found on all course pages. The fees may increase annually.
Qualification cost – to give you an idea of how much a qualification may cost in total over the duration of your studies, an approximate cost is provided for many of our qualifications. This is based on the required number of courses to complete the qualification and the average cost of those courses. It does not include annual administration fees, text books and course materials or external exam fees, and is subject to annual course fee increases.

Credits

Courses are assigned credits depending on how much time and effort is needed to complete their learning outcomes. In general, each credit represents approximately 10 hours of study time.

Delivery method

Online – The course materials for online courses are delivered in an online format and all assignments are submitted online.
Mixed – These courses are delivered using a mix of online and paper based course materials. This may include receiving paper course materials, submitting assignments online, or being required to participate in online forums and learning activities.
Print Only - The course will be delivered using paper based courses materials, and assignments may need to be submitted in hard copy rather than online. This will depend on the course.

Whether courses are delivered online, on paper or a mixture of both, there may also be components such as workshops, noho marae, work experience and practicum to participate in. To find out what your course involves check the course information page.

EFTS

EFTS stands for equivalent full-time student. An EFTS is the study time required for each course and is used by the Tertiary Education Commission to decide if a course is part-time or full-time.

One year of full-time study is generally between 0.8 and 1.2 EFTS.

Level

You can tell how hard a course or qualification is by the level it is set at:

Levels 1-4 are about the same as secondary school and basic trades training.
Levels 5-7 are the same as university study.

Prerequisites

Prerequisites are courses that must be completed before another course can be studied.
Co-requisites are courses that can be studied at the same time as another course.

If a course has a specific prerequisite or co-requisite course, it will be listed on the course page under the title 'Prerequisites'. If no courses are listed, check the entry and other requirements under the qualification you are studying for. Some courses require you to have studied at a particular level prior to enrolling.

Student loans

Not all qualifications or students are eligible for student loans. You will need to meet criteria such as studying a minimum number of credits over a specific study period. It is up to you to apply for a student loan via StudyLink - Open Polytechnic does not do this for you.

Information about student loans and eligibility

StudyLink website

Teaching weeks

Teaching weeks is the number of weeks that we teach a course. This differs from the enrolment period, which is based on the course start and end dates.

For example, a 20-week enrolment period will have 16 teaching weeks, followed by four weeks to accommodate marking, any extensions and reassessments, or exams.

Workload

The workload estimate given on a course page is calculated like this:

Number of credits x 10, divided by the number of teaching weeks for the course. The hours will be rounded up to nearest whole number.

Please note, this is a guide only. You may need more or less time for study, and you may also need to do more hours during assessment due dates or exams times.

Level
7
Credits
20
Cost

$840 NZ Domestic

$2,611 NZ International
EFTS
0.1667
Delivery type

Online only
Teaching weeks 16 weeks
Workload Approximately 13 hours per week
Prerequisites Check entry and other requirements under the qualification you are studying

For more information watch the course introduction video below.

What you will learn

This course will teach you to propose, plan and control all aspects of a project from proposal to completion. This includes:

contractual
financial
report generation
risk management
closing and review issues.

When you complete this course you will gain the skill to apply project management techniques and ideas as part of a process that is standard, repeatable, predictable and consistent. You will also be able to:

develop a proposal for a medium-sized project
design a project plan
modify an existing project plan to reflect project changes
control the progress of a project
review the completed project
discuss project management issues as they relate to the field of the project.

Entry requirements

You need a working knowledge of project management software.
You need to have completed a Level 6 course before enrolling in this course. If you do not meet this criteria, contact us to discuss your options.

Assessment

This course is 100% internally assessed. This includes three in course assessments.

Software requirements

You need access to a project management software package, such as Microsoft project. This course will teach you techniques for managing projects, but not how to use a project management software application.

Note: Microsoft Project is a PC based application. If you are a Mac user or plan to use other software, please contact the Course Leader.

Project requirements

In this course we recommend you think of a real live project. Past students have found this to be beneficial for their learning.

The project can be of any kind, irrespective of the industry or sector. Examples of projects used in the past include:

renovations or extensions of a building/house
organising an event
implementing a Local Area Network
converting a paper based company to an automated web-based company
developing a new training or human resource programme internationally

Although each project is unique, your project needs to have the following characteristics:

Project team - You need to be managing at least three people. Hired contractors within the organisation are part of this figure.
Project budget - The project should have a budget. Fictitious figures can be used if information is considered confidential.
Project timelines - The project timeline should fit within the duration of the study period. The assessment due dates will provide you the precise time window for planning purposes. Large projects that do not fit into the study period window can still be used for this course if a logical sub-phase can be used as your project.

Once you are enrolled, you should discuss your proposed project with the Course Leader to confirm it is suitable.

If you are unable to find a suitable real live project, then we can offer a selection of simulated projects to choose from.

This information is in the PDF below for your reference:

Pre-enrolment information (PDF 245KB. Opens in new window)

Computer and internet requirements

To complete this course you will need access to a laptop or desktop computer, reliable broadband internet connection and a data plan able to support online learning such as streaming of videos (including YouTube), downloading content, and writing and submitting online assessments. If you are unsure if your current computer or internet access allows you to complete your online learning with us, please contact us before applying to enrol.

Learn more about our online learning and study tools.

How to enrol

Before enrolling in this course you need to:

choose the qualification you will study the course under
check the order that courses in the qualification should be studied in the Qualification Structure table. This is in the Choose courses and apply tab on the qualification page.

Work towards

You can do this course as part of these qualifications:

Certificate of Proficiency

Course Only (Certificate of Proficiency) (OP7304)

Bachelor's Degree

Graduate Certificate

Graduate Certificate in Business (OP7411)

Graduate Diploma

Course availability over the next 12 months

2025

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Dec