Government Liaison Report 
By Cynthia Hancox, Government Liaison

Annual statistics:
The latest annual statistics for home educated students have been released, showing that there were 11,010 exempt students as of 1 st July 2025, the highest number ever recorded. This does not include the approximately 10,600 students who are enrolled in distance schools, including Te Kura. Interest in home education continues to grow. A breakdown of numbers by region or by student age etc can be found in the spreadsheets accessible from Education Counts here: https://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/statistics/homeschooling

Review of Supervision Allowance and Outcomes or Accountability:
We are aware that the Minister of Education, Erica Stanford, is asking questions about home education outcomes and accountability, and the supervision allowance. We have requested a meeting with her so we can discuss the particulars. We do know that she has said there will be no changes for the coming Budget.

Ministers and the Ministry tend to say that they “don’t know the outcomes of home educated students” – or what they really mean is that by not knowing outcomes, they don’t know if homeschooling is successful. However, they CAN access considerable data about outcomes, if they just made the effort. They did this in 2015 for the then- Review of Homeschooling in NZ, and could do so again if they wished. It’s simply a matter of working with NZQA to pull data on all homeschooled students (within suitable parameters) and then seeing what levels of attainment they have on record, and comparing this to the “average” for state educated children. While they may not have access to information about students who do alternative high school qualifications, anyone who goes on to do further education of just about any kind in NZ will have it recorded on the NZQF.

Guidance to avoid issues with processing of applications:
As I wrote in our last quarterly newsletter, there have been significant staff changes and restructures around the country within the Ministry, which means that there are also many staff who are new to processing exemption applications, and as a result I’m hearing from a lot of folk who are getting phone calls which may be something they prefer to avoid, or in which they are told incorrect things, emails being sent to a parent who doesn’t regularly check emails, and other issues. There have also been significant delays or wait times in some regions.

Here are some suggestions to streamline processes or to deal with issues that may arise:

1) When filling in Section One of an application form, if you don’t wish to receive phone calls about your application, don’t include your phone number/s. If they email you asking for this, politely say you’d prefer communication by email and don’t wish to provide your phone number as this time.

2) In Section One, if you are giving details for two parents but prefer to have all emails about the application sent to one particular parent, put only their email in the form. Make sure it is either typed or very legibly written, accurate and easy to read.

3) Make sure that you do remember to include the birth certificate (and if born overseas or you are not the birth parent, appropriate additional documents) as well as to include, to the best of your ability, sufficient information to cover each of the requirements in the application. Missing documents or limited information is going to slow your application process down.

4) If you submit an application for a 5-year-old who does not turn 6 for some time, while regional offices must accept and process the application, for those offices with significant workloads, your application may be given a lower priority and so take longer to process. This also applies to application submitted longer than 3 months before the intended start date.

5) For all other applications, when you submit the application, you should get a proper acknowledgement of receipt within 1 week. If you don’t receive that, or do not hear anything further about your application within 6-8 weeks, it is appropriate to follow up. Don’t do so sooner, as lots of folks sending enquiries just slows staff down further. But don’t wait for ever either. Sometimes an application does get misplaced somewhere in the process, and it’s only by parents following do they realise this and get it back on track. When you do enquire, by email is best as these are usually easier and quicker for staff to respond to than phone messages.

6) If you get requests for additional information that is out of scope of requirements (eg being asked to include NZ curriculum outcomes or topics, include an hour a day each of reading writing and math, follow an exact timetable, include curriculum workbooks when that is not your chosen approach, to have a phone call or meeting with staff except in exceptional and explained circumstances etc), then do not feel pressured into doing what they ask. Seek guidance to check that they are out of scope, and then politely but firmly decline. Note, however, there are certain requirements that need to be covered in the application, and being asked for more information if your application does not yet meet those is normal and a part of the process.

7) If an application is declined, you have 2 options:

a. Appeal the decision. Appeals are handled by the National Office, and involve ERO reviewing your paperwork and making a recommendation as to whether they consider the application to meet “as regularly and well” standards. This pathway is appropriate if your application was unreasonably declined or proper processes were not followed.

b. Write a new application, or update the existing one to cover areas not properly addressed the first time, and submit it. This will be treated as a completely new application and will be sent to a different regional office for processing to avoid bias. This is the appropriate option if your application was unsuccessful because it didn’t meet the requirements.

If you are unsatisfied with your interactions with regional staff, or have waited a particularly long time and not heard the outcome of your application, even though you have followed up several times, then you have the right to make a complaint.
Complaints can be sent to the national office at enquiries.national@education.govt.nz