Catering for a range of ages, interests, abilities and needs, these providers must meet criteria set by the Ministry of Education. To ensure they consistently provide a high standard of quality education New Zealand schools are regularly audited by the Education Review Office.
Schooling
Starting school in New Zealand is generally seen as an exciting ‘milestone’ event in a child’s life and even though the legal age to start attending school is six years of age, most children living in Christchurch start school shortly after their fifth birthday.
Your child is likely to spend at least 11 years at school. The various ‘schooling stages’ are:
primary school (years 1–6)
intermediate school (years 7–8)
secondary school (years 9–13)
Did you know?
Research shows participating in early childhood education improves literacy and numeracy of school children and although there is no requirement for pre-schoolers to attend an ECE, most will at some stage.
Qualifications
Most New Zealand secondary school students work towards the National Certificate of Education Achievement (NCEA). This is part of a wider framework of national qualifications that includes many different areas of study, both in and out of high school, and which follows through into tertiary education.
New to New Zealand?
If you have recently arrived in New Zealand you can find out more about education in the Immigration service’s settlement pack.
