Ethan

How to Apply for a Homeschool Exemption in New Zealand: Step-by-Step

The Certificate of Exemption is the legal gateway to home education in New Zealand. Until you have one, your school-age child is required by law to attend a registered school. Once you have one, you're free to design their education on your own terms.

This guide walks you through the process from start to finish — what the certificate is, how to apply, what reviewers are looking for, and what happens after approval. If you're still deciding whether homeschooling is right for your family, the complete NZ homeschool guide is the place to start.

What is a Certificate of Exemption?

A Certificate of Exemption is the document issued by the Ministry of Education that formally permits a child to be educated at home rather than attending a registered school.

The legal basis

The exemption sits under section 38 of the Education and Training Act 2020. The Act requires all children between the ages of 6 and 16 to attend a registered school — unless a parent or legal guardian obtains a certificate exempting them from that requirement. The designated officer at the Ministry may grant the certificate if satisfied that the child "is to be taught at least as regularly and well as in a registered school."

That single phrase — "at least as regularly and well as in a registered school" — is the complete legal test. It is deliberately broad, which is why families using very different approaches all qualify.

One application per child

The Certificate of Exemption is issued per child, not per family. If you have three children you want to home-educate, you lodge three separate applications. This matters practically: each child's exemption is independent. You can have one child at school and others at home simultaneously.

Both legal guardians must agree

Where a child has two or more legal guardians, all of them must agree to the application. A Ministry reviewer will not approve an exemption where there is a dispute between guardians. If your family situation involves shared custody, it's worth resolving this before you apply rather than during the review process.

Before you apply

Decide on your approach

You do not need a complete, detailed curriculum plan to apply — but you do need to be able to describe your general approach. Reviewers want to see that you've thought about how your child will learn, which subject areas you'll cover, and how you'll keep track of their progress. The more specific your description, the smoother the review tends to go.

If you're not sure where to start, the NZ Curriculum can serve as a useful reference point. You don't have to follow it formally, but it tells you what the Ministry considers age-appropriate learning for children at different year levels. A reviewer comparing your plan against that framework will be looking for broad coverage — reading and writing, maths, some science, some social studies or history, and physical activity — not mastery of any particular content.

Find your regional Ministry of Education office

Applications go to your regional Ministry of Education office — not to a central national address. The Ministry's website lists the regional offices and contact details. It's worth making contact before you apply if you have any questions; regional advisors are generally willing to talk through what they're looking for and can save you a rejected application.

The canonical Ministry page for home education is education.govt.nz — Home Education. This is where the application form, regional office contacts, and current guidance all live.

Step-by-step application

Step 1 — Download or access the application form

The application form is available on the Ministry of Education home education page. You can complete it digitally or print and fill it by hand. The form asks for the child's details, the names of all legal guardians, and space to describe your proposed educational programme.

Step 2 — Describe how you'll teach "at least as regularly and well as in a registered school"

This is the part of the application that determines whether your exemption is approved, and it's where most first-time applicants need to put the most work. The key is specificity without perfectionism.

Write in plain English. Describe what a typical week will look like — roughly how much time, which subjects you plan to cover, and what resources or approaches you'll use. Then explain how you'll know the learning is happening: a portfolio of work, a learning journal, regular assessments, or regular check-ins against curriculum benchmarks are all common approaches.

You don't need a detailed timetable. You don't need to name a commercial curriculum (though you can if you're using one). You need to give the reviewer enough detail to be confident your child will be genuinely educated. Avoid vague statements like "we will follow an interest-led approach" on their own — pair them with concrete examples of what that looks like and which learning areas you'll cover over the year.

Step 3 — Submit to your regional office

Send your completed application to your regional Ministry of Education office. Most offices accept applications by email; some prefer hard copy. The Ministry's home education page lists current submission instructions for each region. Keep a copy of everything you submit, including the date you sent it.

Step 4 — Wait for review (typically 4–6 weeks)

Most applications are reviewed within four to six weeks, though this varies by region and time of year. During this period, the reviewer may contact you with questions or requests for clarification. Responding promptly helps keep the process moving.

Some applications are approved on first submission; some come back with requests for more detail; a small number are declined. If the reviewer contacts you with questions, treat it as a constructive exchange rather than a challenge. They are usually signalling what they need to see in order to approve.

Step 5 — Receive your Certificate of Exemption

Once approved, you'll receive your Certificate of Exemption in writing from the Ministry. From this date, your child is legally home-educated, and you are no longer required to enrol them in a registered school. Keep this certificate somewhere safe — you may need to produce it in future dealings with the Ministry or the Education Review Office.

What reviewers are looking for

The reviewer's job is to be satisfied that your child will be taught to the standard the law requires. They are not looking for a perfect lesson plan, a specific curriculum, or a replication of a school classroom.

In practice, reviewers look for three things:

  1. Breadth — do you intend to cover the main learning areas (language and literacy, maths, science, social studies, physical and creative education), even if informally?
  2. Regularity — will learning happen consistently, not just when you feel like it?
  3. Accountability — how will you know your child is making progress, and how will you adjust if they aren't?

Common mistakes to avoid

After approval — ongoing requirements

Approval is not a one-off event. Home education in New Zealand comes with two ongoing obligations.

Statutory declaration every six months

Twice a year, you are required to complete a statutory declaration — a short formal statement confirming that you are still home-educating your child. This declaration is the trigger for payment of the Home Education Supervision Allowance (more on that below). If you don't submit it, you don't receive the payment.

The declaration cycle aligns broadly with the allowance payment schedule (June and November). The Ministry will typically contact you when one is due, but it's your responsibility to submit it. Put it in your calendar.

ERO reviews

The Education Review Office (ERO) conducts periodic reviews of home-educated children. These are not unannounced inspections, and they are not pass/fail tests. A reviewer contacts the family to arrange a visit, comes to your home or meets at an agreed location, and has a conversation about how learning is happening.

Reviews typically take place every three years or so for established homeschool families, though the frequency can vary. New exemptions may be reviewed sooner. ERO reviewers generally approach these visits as a support function, not an enforcement one — most families describe the experience as low-stress and constructive. The ERO review does not require you to demonstrate a specific curriculum; it requires you to show that genuine learning is occurring.

Once your exemption comes through, you'll want a plan for what each week actually looks like. Sapora can help you structure NZ-curriculum-aligned learning from day one.

The supervision allowance

Every family with an active exemption is entitled to the Home Education Supervision Allowance. The current annual amounts (as of 2026) are:

ChildAnnual allowance
First child$796
Second child$677
Third child$557
Each subsequent child$398

The allowance is paid in two instalments per year, approximately in June and November.

One important detail: each instalment is not automatic. To receive each payment, you must complete and submit the statutory declaration confirming you are still home-educating at that point in time. If you miss the declaration, you miss that instalment. There is no retrospective payment for a missed declaration cycle.

The first payment will come at the next instalment cycle after your exemption is approved. If your exemption comes through in August, your first payment will be in November, not backdated to the start of the year.

For a full picture of what homeschooling costs — including how the allowance fits against curriculum, resource, and activity spend — see our guide to homeschooling costs in NZ.

What if your application is declined?

A declined application is not unusual and is not the end of the road. Most declines come down to a description that gave the reviewer too little detail to be confident the legal test would be met.

Common reasons for decline

The appeal process

If your application is declined, you'll receive a written decision explaining why. You have two main options. First, you can reapply — addressing the specific concerns the reviewer raised. This is the most straightforward path and the most common outcome. Many families who are declined on a first application are approved on a revised second application.

Second, if you believe the decision was wrong on the facts or inconsistent with the legal test, you can appeal through the Ministry's formal review process. This is less common and generally takes longer. For most families, a revised reapplication is faster and more practical.

If you were declined and aren't sure why the reviewer's concern applies to your plan, it's worth contacting the regional office to ask. Reviewers are usually willing to explain what more specific detail they'd need to see before they could approve.

Sources and further reading

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