A former Tertiary Education Minister says the amalgamation of polytechs hasn't worked in New Zealand, just like it hasn't worked overseas.

A memo from Tertiary Education Commission deputy chief executive Gillian Dudgeon to Education Minister Chris Hipkins has been leaked to Newstalk ZB.

It shows the commission has significant concerns about the financial position of Te Pūkenga, the national polytech body.

Steven Joyce, who held the Tertiary Education portfolio for most of National's time in government, told Mike Hosking amalgamating the country's polytechs has gone just like he and many others expected.

“New South Wales did the same thing in Australia and it costs them buckets of money and lost a lot of money and this is going the same way.”

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