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When you homeschool, you are fully responsible for your child's learning and can set your own curriculum. Your tamariki | child should be learning as well as, and as regularly as, they would be at school.
Home education is different from enrolling your child at Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu. Te Kura is New Zealand's distance learning school that provides teaching and resources for your child.
Apply to home educate your child#
You have to complete a home education application form and submit it to your regional office. If you have more than 1 child, you must apply for each child individually.
Applying is free and normally takes 4 to 6 weeks.
To apply, you must be the child's parent or legal guardian. All of your child's legal guardians need to be in agreement about home education.
Information you will need#
Your child's birth certificate
If a parent has changed their name from the one listed on the child birth's certificate, provide a copy of the marriage certificate or name change certificate.
Passport and visa
If the child was born outside of New Zealand, a copy of their passport and visa with date of expiry, where applicable.
Court order
If your child's legal guardian has been assigned by a court, provide us with a copy of the Court Order.
Home education guide#
Our home education guide has information about this.
When to apply#
You can apply to home educate your child at any age between 6 and 16.
Children who are 5 years old do not legally need to be enrolled at a school yet. If your child is 5 when you apply for an exemption, it will come into effect when they turn 6.
If you are applying to homeschool a child who is older than 6, they must be enrolled at a school while you do this.
Help with applying#
Before starting the application, you should read our home education guide above. This explains what information you need to provide.
Then you can fill in the application.
Fill in the application form#
If you have trouble filling in the form, you can ask your regional office for help. While they can't fill out the application for you, they can help clarify information and answer questions about the application process.
What happens after you apply#
Your home education application will be considered by the regional office.
We will assess whether the programme you have proposed will:
- teach your child at least as regularly as they would be in a registered school
- teach your child at least as well as they would be taught in a registered school.
If your child went to school, we would contact them for information about your child's education so far.
When you receive your Certificate of Exemption, you can start home educating your child from the date on your certificate. If the exemption is issued before your child turns 6 years, your starting date will be their sixth birthday.
Your Certificate of Exemption is valid until your child turns 16 or enrols in a registered school (whichever occurs first). You can continue to home educate your child after they turn 16. An exemption is not required to do this.
If your application is turned down, we will send you a letter explaining our reasons. You can appeal the decision in writing to your regional office. If your appeal is unsuccessful, you can submit a new application to your regional office.
