Budget 2025 invests $645.8 million of operating funding and $100.9 million of capital funding, providing significant investment to support more students, address funding shortfalls and to meet growing demand. This funding will enable teachers and specialists to identify learning support needs early in a child’s life, and to provide the right support, to support attendance and to lift achievement.

Bringing learning supports closer to children and young people#

This Budget has $645.8 million in operating funding and $100.9 million capital for learning support initiatives. This includes:

• $266.0 million to extend the Early Intervention Service (EIS) from early childhood education through to the end of Year 1 of primary school. This will fund more than 560 additional full-time equivalent (FTE) over the next 5 years for EIS teachers and specialists. This investment includes:
  • $74.9 million to extend the Early Intervention Service (EIS) into Year 1 of primary school
  • $127.7 million to reduce wait times and meet the growing demand for the EIS
  • $40.0 million for 900,000 additional Teacher Aide hours for young learners in the EIS
  • $23.4 million for early intervention specialist service providers and specialist workforce development.

Overall, there is funding for more than 2 million additional teacher aide hours into the system, every year, from 2028.

Budget 2025 also provides:

• $192.5 million so that all state and state integrated schools and kura with Year 1 to 8 students get access to a Learning Support Coordinator (around 650 additional FTTE), enabling improved identification of, and response to learner needs.
• $122.5 million to meet increased demand for the Ongoing Resource Scheme (ORS), for students with high and complex needs. This includes a structural change to the funding model so every child who is verified for ORS funding receives the support they need. This investment will also increase the number of specialists and teacher aide time to support the more than 1,700 additional learners forecast to access ORS over the next 4 years.
• $41.5 million of operating and $1.4 million of capital funding for an extra 78.5 FTE speech language therapists, 6.2 FTE psychologists, and supporting teacher aide hours to help meet the growing demand of students with communication and behaviour needs. This will provide specialist supports to around 2,500 students over the next 4 years.
• $7.3 million for 45 more places in the Intensive Wraparound Service | Te Kahu Tōī (a 7.5% increase), so more learners with the most complex social, emotional and behavioural needs can get tailored supports.
• $4.2 million to employ 25 intern education psychologists each year to enable a more sustainable pipeline of locally trained workforce.
• $3.0 million of investment in our teacher aides with targeted professional learning and development to help them support learners with social, emotional, wellbeing and behavioural needs associated with disability and neurodiversity.
• $90.0 million of capital funding and $18.4 million of operating funding for 25 new learning support satellite classrooms to provide around 225 new student places across the Ministry’s specialist school network, and up to 365 property modifications to make schools more accessible.

Budget 2025 at a glance#

The brochure provides additional information about Vote Education key investments, highlighting the multi-tiered, systematic approach to learning support.

Learning support roadmap#

Early Intervention Service strengthened and extended to Year 1 Learners#

• $216.6m operating funding
• $9.4m capital.

This extends the Early Intervention Service (EIS) from early childhood education through to the end of Year 1 of primary school.

This will help students who need additional support to have a smoother and more effective transition. It also funds expansion of the current service to address growing demand. This includes:

• more than 560 new specialist staff for the expanded EIS to the end of Year 1 and expand the current service
• 20% increase in funding for study awards to grow the EIS specialist workforce
• funding increase for EIS service providers that have not had a price increase since 2019. This initiative will increase participation in education, improve achievement, and reduce the need for support later in life.

Teacher aide time to support the Early Intervention Service extension into Year 1 of schools and kura#

• $39.9m operating funding.

This funding massively expands the Teacher Aide hours for students in their early years of schooling who need the Early Learning service.

This initiative will enable specialists to provide more effective support to young learners accessing EIS by funding teacher aide time. These learners include children with communication difficulties or behavioural challenges who required additional support to be able to attend, progress and achieve in their learning alongside their peers.

With more consistent collaboration between teacher aides, teachers and specialists, this initiative is expected to contribute to smoother transitions in school, greater engagement in learning, and improved long-term educational outcomes.

Learning Support Coordinators for schools with Year 1 to 8 students#

• $192.5m operating funding

This funding rolls out a Learning Support Coordinator (LSC) to all schools with Year 1 to 8 students that don’t currently have an LSC.

It provides around 650 new LSC full-time teacher equivalents (FTTE), phased in over 3 years:

• A new LSC will be allocated to ~1250 additional schools to benefit ~300,000 learners.
• Small schools with 100 students or less will get access to an LSC 1 day per week.

There is also funding for:

• professional learning and development for new LSCs
• an evaluation of the service.

Ongoing Resourcing Scheme volume funding for the increasing number of eligible students#

• $122.5m operating funding.

This funds the more than 1,700 additional learners forecasted to access ORS by 2028/29. Longer term, funding increases will be based on formal growth forecasts, rather than requiring annual Budget bids. That change will enable those students with the highest needs to be supported throughout their time at school.

Behaviour and Communications Service Cost Pressure#

• $41.5m operating funding
• $1.4m capital.

This funding is for additional frontline staff to meet the forecast increased demand of around 2,500 learners who will need specialist support from the Behaviour and Communications Service over the next 4 years. The funding is for an additional:

• 78.5 FTE speech language therapists
• 6.2 FTE educational psychologists
• 157,089 hours of teacher aide time.

This initiative provides increased capacity to address demand and reduce wait times so students with additional learning needs can receive the support they need.

Expanding the Intensive Wraparound Service | Te Kahu Tōī#

• $7.3m operating funding.

This initiative provides:

• 45 additional student places for Te Kahu Tōī | Intensive Wraparound Service over the next 2 years
• 5 new psychologist FTE and 8 facilitator FTE by 2027.

Te Kahu Tōī supports students in Years 0 to 10 with the most complex and challenging behaviour, social and learning needs - at school, at home, and in the community.

Intern psychologist salaries cost pressure#

• $4.2m operating funding.

This funds the employment of 25 intern education psychologists per year. Interns need to complete a supervised placement to be eligible for full registration as psychologists. This initiative provides a more sustainable pipeline of locally trained workforce.

In recent years, more than 85% of the interns have been offered ongoing employment within the Ministry once they are qualified. (Prior to a 2023 Employment Relations Authority determination, interns were paid stipends for being on scholarships. Having been deemed interns, they must be paid as fixed-term employees.)

Teacher aide professional learning and development#

• $3.0m operating funding.

This funding will provide professional learning and development (PLD) for teacher aides in state and state-integrated schools. The PLD will be based on evidence-based practices, to strengthen teacher aides’ capability when working with students who experience behavioural or learning difficulties associated with disability or neurodiversity.

Expanding the learning support network and delivering property modifications – Contingency#

• $18.4m operating funding
• $90.0m capital.

This initiative supports students with learning support needs to access the education setting that best meets their needs, whether that is a specialist school or their local school. This funding delivers:

• up to 25 new classrooms in the specialist school network
• up to 365 learning support property modifications to provide equitable access to education for all students.

These modifications include the purchase and installation of automatic doors, lifts, fencing, hoists and bathroom modifications.

Factsheet#

Download a PDF version of this information.