Ara Institute of Canterbury Information

Kia ora. Welcome to Ara Ara Institute of Canterbury is a vibrant and progressive tertiary institute providing world-class, tertiary-level education throughout the Canterbury and Waitaki region. Ara was created in 2016 when education providers CPIT and Aoraki Polytechnic merged, bringing together two well-established organisations and over 200 years of collective experience and success. Our talented staff, innovative business collaborators and supportive community partners are passionate about the role they play in our students' success. Together, we're committed to equipping every student with the industry-relevant knowledge, skills and experience they need to get the job they want and to excel in it. Our learning models and course content continually evolve to respond to industry and regional needs. To ensure our students have real-world experience, we offer an ever-expanding array of workplace training opportunities, internships, apprenticeships and partnerships with industry. And to meet demand for flexible study options, we offer an increasing range of online, blended delivery and part time programmes. These measures, combined with a low student-to-tutor ratio and comprehensive support services, ensure our students thrive in an inclusive, nurturing, flexible and technology-enhanced study environment where meaningful learning experiences are the norm. And it means that when they head out into the world, our graduates are work-ready and equipped with internationally-relevant qualifications, valuable industry connections and skills that will enable them to contribute to a fast-changing world.