This qualification is for graduates, not necessarily in Information Technology (IT), who wish to move into an IT career as employees, contractors or self-employed. Beneficiaries of the qualification will be the graduates themselves; employers… both IT specialists and other users of IT; the wider community; and the New Zealand economy, as graduates contribute their technical and personal skills. The GradDipIT aims to provide students with the opportunity to become increasingly self managing in their learning and with the personal and IT skills needed to be ready for career development. It enables employers in the IT sector and other sectors to have access to work ready graduates.

The learning outcomes for the GradDipIT are a mix of core outcomes for all students and specific outcomes dependent on which four other courses (standard or specialised) students take. The core learning outcomes are listed below. The specific outcomes are listed with each course descriptor in Section 2 below. On successful completion of the GradDipIT, graduates will have: Developed the interpersonal skills required to work effectively either independently or as a member of a team; Demonstrated an ability to operate knowledgeably, productively and professionally in an information technology environment; Demonstrated an ability to think critically, and to evaluate and apply existing knowledge to meeting requirements and solving actual problems in the field of information technology; Acquired degree level knowledge and skills in specific areas of information technology, namely project planning and management and system development methodologies; Acquired degree level knowledge and skills in other areas of information technology as determined by the standard or specialised courses taken by students. Graduates will also have grounding in technical and commercial them to set this specialised knowledge in context.