National Education Growth Plan

The National Education Growth Plan (NEGP) identifies what we know about the anticipated location and patterns of growth in school-aged children between now and 2030.

Level of compliance Main audience Other

Recommended

  • Boards
  • Principals and tumuaki
  • Parents, caregivers and whānau

Boards should be aware of growth issues that affect their catchment area, as they may impact planning for their schools and community. 

About

The school-aged population is growing across Aotearoa New Zealand. The NEGP was published in May 2019 and is a way of thinking about and coordinating our response to that growth. As communities change, the needs of their tamariki and rangatahi change. We work hard to ensure there is an effective and sustainable school network across Aotearoa New Zealand. We regularly monitor the capacity and projected growth of the school network and work closely with schools, local communities and other agencies across the school network.

The NEGP outlines the medium to long-term plan to meet growth and demand across the motu. It is flexible and dynamic and forecasts demand for student places based on analysis and catchment modelling. The NEGP compiles data from across the country, and the targeted responses to growth in each growth area (‘catchment’). Looking ahead to 2030, it provides direction to support long-term planning and investment.

Identifying data

The NEGP compiles information from growth areas for many reasons:

  • To anticipate locations and patterns of growth.
  • To identify high-growth areas.
  • To help identify factors, action and strategies to meet and manage growth.
  • To provide the basis for decision-making on investment spend.

Population growth is placing pressure on our school network in specific regions. These high-growth areas are all unique, and experience growth in different ways. In some areas, we are seeing redevelopment and intensification of existing urban areas, while in other areas entire new communities are being established.

We expect to see better value for the investment spend over the longer term as we articulate a clearer picture of demand and response. With a longer term view, we can assess whether there are potential investment gaps or affordability issues beyond the 10-year horizon. Any investment in schooling infrastructure is subject to prioritisation, land acquisition and designation and future budget funding.

Growth to 2030

Investment in our infrastructure has long-term effects and will shape how well infrastructure functions for future generations, including delivering the educational outcomes communities want. The NEGP identifies the long term view of how enough capacity in the school network will be delivered in the right place at the right time.

Announcements about funding allocated through Budget 19

A long-term plan provides direction and guidance to the wider sector. Sharing how we anticipate and plan for the challenges of a growing population ensures that our network of schools can access support from other government agencies, local government, and infrastructure and service providers.

We monitor changes in school rolls, development trends and reviews the long term plans as required to ensure that we are continuing to provide accurate, reliable and up-to date data to inform the right investment decisions into the future.

Catchment plans

You can see individual catchment plans from the 2019 NEGP in the relevant education region pages.

School network regions

Updates

In 2021, we published regional updates on the implementation of the NEGP, and these are provided in the links below. These summary sheets provide an update of what we have been doing, what has changed since we published the NEGP, and which projects we have announced.

Updates to the NEGP implementation were provided in 2021 and as part of an update to the implementation of the wider National Education Network Plan in 2024.

Updates page

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