Education

More freedom to focus on learning outcomes

We've helped New Zealand education agencies and organisations, from the Ministry of Education that serves 800,000+ students, to universities, polytechnics, and training providers, with platforms that simply work.

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the bokeh view of campus a public research collegiate university based in Dunedin, NZ

We're backing the future of Aotearoa education

Whatever brought you to work in education, we believe your technology should amplify it. We're a technology and strategy partner that truly cares about the education sector in Aotearoa.

We can equip you with open source learning technologies, proven by some of the world's largest educators, so you spend less time and money on tech and more time on teaching.

Our platform solutions and shareable infrastructure are designed to support better learner outcomes, adapt as your needs change, and scale reliably when it matters most.

Local roots. Global reach. Committed to New Zealand education.

Our New Zealand company understands the regulatory environment and local challenges Aotearoa education faces. But we don't stop at the border.

With subsidiaries in Australia, Canada and the UK, our team have partnered with some of the biggest education institutions to help them achieve more with their technology.

Our New Zealand based team also helps shape international best practices like portfolio digital ethics and is internationally recognised as advocates of digital sovereignty and open source approaches. We're here to translate open source best practices into practical learning solutions that work for your context.

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How we can help you

Strategic consultation

Platform selection, cost analysis, migration planning and integration. Technology audits, hosting and data sovereignty considerations. Our evidence-based decisions help you serve learners with adaptable, stable and scalable open source learning solutions.

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Learning management systems

We've worked with Moodle since 2004, and are award-winning, Premium Certified Moodle Partners with international expertise ready to apply to your LMS.

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Lifelong learning portfolios

Mahara is an ePortfolio designed to support lifelong learning. Students can demonstrate capabilities and continue their learning records throughout their careers.

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Library, research & discovery systems

Whether you have a library collection or a research and discovery platform need, we can help. Specialising in unified, connected platforms that serve education and research communities.

Choose library, research & discovery services

AI & Machine Learning

Agentic search, automation, content generation, decision support, or R&D proof-of-concepts, we help you experiment with AI, prove use cases, and implement what works. Option to run open source models on NZ infrastructure, or your preferred cloud.

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Cloud consulting, services & platform

Cove is Catalyst's fully managed cloud platform - auto-scaling, high availability, geo-redundancy and disaster recovery. Runs on Catalyst Cloud with the option to store data in NZ, or across AWS and Azure infrastructure.

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The tool supporting hundreds of NZ schools

For more than a decade, Catalyst has built and maintained the open source platform underpinning NZCER's Progressive Achievement Tests, used by more than two-thirds of New Zealand schools. When NZCER saw the opportunity to build a standardised writing test for the first time, that shared history across the architecture meant they could move quickly.

With the introduction of PAT Tuhituhi (writing), teachers have reliable, curriculum-aligned writing results. In the first six months, more than 120,000 assessments were completed across New Zealand.

Catalyst helps ensure that NZCER's world-class assessments are delivered in a way that keeps pace with technological advancement in the classroom.

- Ben Gardiner, Manager of the Professional Services team, NZCER

Read the story behind the tool

An examplar of the PAT Tuhituhi automated scoring is open on a monitor, next to this is a small tablet on the desk displaying a NZCER resource for students for what prompts could look like

Education success stories

PaCt website open on laptiop District Council

Ministry modernisation success

"The migration of these critical systems [to the Cove platform ] has delivered significant benefits to the Ministry, and provides us with a solid foundation for future scalability... The migration process has been seamless." Chief Digital Officer, MoE.

AUT creates research first

World-first Rainbow research portal serving diverse communities. "...no similar precedent existed. It could not have happened without the commitment, skills, and values of the team at Catalyst.” Professor of Art and Design, AUT.

Canterbury wins national award

Catalyst supported the University of Canterbury (UC) using Moodle and machine learning technology TensorFlow to help staff identify students who may need extra support. UC won a CAUDIT award for this solution.

Canterbury modernises enrolment

Before myUC was introduced, the enrolment system was rigid, hard to adapt and not an easy or enjoyable experience for students or staff. Now they have a smoother enrolment for students and reduced processing times for staff.

University of Cambridge scales during crisis

<1,200 concurrent examinations at peak periods and 30,000+ individual examinations. "...Catalyst [Europe] was quick and easy to respond to enquiries, with very open communication channels." Service Manager & Team Leader, University of Cambridge.

Screenshot of Monash Universitys Moodle LMSs dashboard displaying course options

Monash handles massive scale with Catalyst Australia

22 terabytes of content, 14,000 page requests per minute during peaks, handled 4x usage spikes during COVID. Students and staff experienced reliable access when learning couldn't stop.

Athabasca University overcomes 'hand-in-and-done'

Portfolio solution for students to connect learning across the programme, reflect on their achievements, and have the opportunity to showcase their skills to future employers or within ongoing professional development.

The Development Manager (UK)

"The ePortfolio makes learning real. It allows for reflective practice and continuous feedback, ensuring apprentices not only understand the theory but can apply it practically." - Director, The Development Manager.

Here to support you

From strategy and consultation through implementation, migration, and managed hosting, we support New Zealand education institutions with solutions designed to support better learning outcomes.

Whether you're planning to modernise legacy systems, adopt new learning technologies, need to improve what you have, want to surface insights to help your learners succeed, or support learners to engage beyond the classroom, we can help.

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