Ara Institute of Canterbury, often simply referred to as Ara, is an

institute of technology An institute of technology (also referred to as technological university, technical university, university of technology, polytechnic university) is an institution of tertiary education that specializes in engineering, technology, applied science ...

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

, New Zealand. It was formed in 2016 from the merger of Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology (CPIT) and

Aoraki Polytechnic Aoraki Polytechnic was a public New Zealand tertiary education institution. Aoraki Polytechnic's main campus was based in central Timaru, South Canterbury, South Island. It also had campuses offering a variety of programmes in Ashburton, Oam ...

. Ara specialises in applied tertiary training. Subject choices include business, engineering, architecture, nursing, creative arts, hospitality, computing, science, languages, outdoor education, and broadcasting. Programmes range from Level 1 to Level 9. The institute works closely with industry to ensure students have relevant skills for employment, and have a wide range of work placement opportunities. Each year around 14,000 students enrol at Ara, including many international students. Ara is internationally recognised and has one of the best English language training centres in New Zealand. Over 50 countries are represented among staff and students at Ara. On 1 April 2020, Ara became a subsidiary of

Te Pūkenga Te Pūkenga – New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology is the largest vocational education provider in New Zealand. In February 2019, the Government announced that the country's sixteen Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics (ITPs) wo ...

(the New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology) alongside the 15 other institutes of technology and polytechnics (ITPs) in the country.

Campus

Ara has six campuses in Canterbury and North Otago (three in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

and one each in Ashburton,

Timaru Timaru (; ) is a port city in the southern Canterbury Region of New Zealand, located southwest of Christchurch and about northeast of Dunedin on the eastern Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast of the South Island. The Timaru urban area is home to peo ...

and

Oamaru Oamaru (; ) is the largest town in North Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand, it is the main town in the Waitaki District. It is south of Timaru and north of Dunedin on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast; State Highway 1 (New Zealand), Sta ...

), making it the largest tertiary institute in the South Island.

The Meaning of Ara

Previously known as CPIT or Christchurch Polytech, Ara was created in 2016 when CPIT and Aoraki Polytechnic merged. Ara is the Māori word for path or journey.

Buildings on the City campus, Madras Street, Christchurch

* Kahukura – This block built for architecture and engineering studies was completed in June 2017 and is named after the Māori for a chief's cloak. *Te Kei – This two-storey building housing executive and administrative staff was completed in 2018 and is named after the Māori for the bow of the canoe. * Te Puna Wānaka – This is the centre for Māori, Pacific and indigenous studies which was built in 1996. A year long refurbishment to address damage caused by the

2011 Christchurch earthquake A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. New Zealand Daylight Time, local time (23:51 Coordinated Universal Time, UTC, 21 February). The () earthquake struck the Canterbury Region ...

was completed for its reopening on 7 July 2021.

Faculty and alumni

* Miranda Easten – country music singer-songwriter * Cathy Andrew - Head of Nursing at Ara

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ara Institute of Canterbury Educational institutions established in 2016 Education in the Canterbury Region Organisations based in Christchurch Vocational education in New Zealand 2016 establishments in New Zealand Te Pūkenga – New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology 2020 disestablishments in New Zealand