It was a collegiate university embracing several constituent institutions at various locations around New Zealand.

[1] The New Zealand Vice-Chancellors' Committee assumed certain administrative functions exercised by the University Grants Committee[3] which in turn assumed some functions of the University of New Zealand on its demise.

[1] The university set its own entrance examination and awarded scholarships to provide financial assistance for students.

[1] The Universities Entrance Board was in turn merged into the New Zealand Qualifications Authority in 1990.

After objections from bodies such as the New Zealand Vice-Chancellors' Committee (the heads of the universities) and the Ministry of Education over illegal use of a protected word (in this case, "university") and thus possibly misleading advertising,[7] the effective co-branding of the wānanga was phased out.