The University of Waikato developed an innovative two-year engineering/ education qualification to attract a group of learners traditionally excluded or disadvantaged in their access to tertiary study and secondary teaching as a career choice. The factors that prompted and supported collaboration between the Faculty of Science and Engineering and the Faculty of Education to develop and deliver a programme that enables industry-trained and qualified learners to gain the engineering qualification required for teaching technology in secondary schools is described. A cross-sequential – patch-up research design was used to collect data from students in both years of the two-year programme to assess the effectiveness of the pathway.