[Primary and Secondary education]

New Zealand education, which has been ranked 7th best in the world, follows the model of primary schools, secondary schools and tertiary education.

Primary and secondary schools are the second level of education.

Schooling is compulsory from age 6 to 16. Your child can start school on the day they turn 5 years old (they do not have to wait until the start of a new school year). Most children stay at school until they are around 17.

The education system for schools is made up of 13 year levels. Your child’s primary education starts at Year 1 and goes to Year 8 (around 5 to 12 years of age). Your child’s secondary education goes from Year 9 to Year 13 (around 13 to 17 years of age).

New Zealand has over 2500 primary and secondary schools. There are three main types of these schools: state (public) schools, state-integrated schools, and private (independent) schools.

State (Public) Schools: are owned and funded by the state. They teach the national curriculum and are secular (non-religious).

State-integrated schools: are schools that were private and have become part of the state education system.

Private schools: get some government funding but are mostly funded through charging parents school fees. They develop their own learning programmes and do not have to follow the national curriculum. Generally, private schools have the high educational quality as well as the high quality facilities. However, the tuition is relatively higher than other two types of school.