YES, our Skills For Living and Foundation Skills (Level 1 & 2) courses are free for students aged 16 years and over (who have a learning disability or barriers and have no or low qualifications). If you’re unsure if your child qualifies, our team can give you more guidance.
The course hours are 9am – 2:30pm, Monday to Thursday.
Friday’s are catch-up days, an opportunity for students who need extra help to come in and get extra help from their tutor.
Skills For Living [Level 1] – 21 weeks
Foundation Skills [Level 1] – 20 weeks
Foundation Skills [Level 2] – 20 weeks
For a more detailed breakdown of the course content click here or talk to one of enrolment team.
The average Thrive Hive class is approximately 14-16 students. Our smaller class sizes are designed to give our students the attention and support they need.
Thrive Hive doesn’t have traditional terms like most schools and universities. We operate more like the world of work.
There’s a week-long study break in the middle and end of every programme, otherwise the courses run continuously throughout the year. We are also closed at the end of each year for three weeks. Our intakes are in February and July.
Most of our Supported Learning students are already receiving some type of Supported Living Benefit. Unfortunately, learners aren’t eligible to receive a Studylink student allowance at the same time as a Work & Income benefit.
We don’t have a transport service, but a key focus is helping learners gain the skills and confidence to use public transport, safely and effectively. We believe this is a key skill to achieving independence. We can offer advice and guidance regarding funding agencies that can offer transport options.
Day programmes are recreational activities designed to provide a sense of community and opportunities to socialise.
While Thrive Hive definitely offers community and socialisation opportunities – there are some key differences to our approach.
We are funded by the Tertiary Education Commission, not MSD or the Ministry for Health & Disability.
This means our learners are tertiary students and the qualifications they gain are nationally recognised. We are closely monitored by NZQA to ensure our learners are getting the highest quality tertiary education possible.
Not currently. While there is a digital component to our programs, our main focus is hands-on learning to develop skills that can be used in real world situations
However we’re currently looking into online-only options for learners with sensory and social challenges like Autism. If you’d like to be involved in a purely online pilot please email
Yes, but you’ll need to get an early leaving exemption.
This is approval from the Ministry of Education for your 15-year-old to be exempt from enrolment at school. Talk to your child’s teacher or guidance counsellor to see if this is a good option for your child. Our enrolments advisors are happy to help facilitate.
While our programmes are focused towards the world of work, we don’t function as an employment service. However – our relationships with a number of different agencies, community groups and support services mean we can help provide support to find meaningful work opportunities, or pathway into studies with other tertiary providers [including local providers, Te Pukenga].
