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, technological educational institute, technical college, polytechnic university or just polytechnic) is an institution of te ...

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

, New Zealand. It was formed in 2016 from the merger of

Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology The Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology (CPIT), formerly the Christchurch Technical College, was an institute of technology in Christchurch, New Zealand. It merged with Aoraki Polytechnic and became Ara Institute of Canterbury in 2 ...

(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, Oamar ...

. 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 was subsumed into

New Zealand Institute of Skills & Technology New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

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 ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

and one each in Ashburton,

Timaru Timaru (; mi, Te Tihi-o-Maru) 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 coast of the South Island. The Timaru urban area is home to ...

and

Oamaru Oamaru (; mi, Te Oha-a-Maru) 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 coast; State Highway 1 and the railway ...

), making it the largest tertiary institute in the South Island. In 2016, Ara began offering online learning options to learners throughout New Zealand through TANZ eCampus.

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. local time (23:51 UTC, 21 February). The () earthquake struck the entire of the Canterbury region in the South Island, centred south-east ...

was completed for its reopening on 7 July 2021.

Alumni

* Miranda Easten – country music singer-songwriter

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ara Institute of Canterbury Educational institutions established in 2016 Education in Canterbury, New Zealand 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