Student Attendance Hits Record Highs, Marking First Post-Covid Improvement

The 2025 Budget allocated a $140 million package over the next four years to improve school attendance nationwide.

New Zealand schools are recording their strongest attendance levels in years, with student turnout improving every term since the beginning of 2024. Associate Education Minister David Seymour says the positive trend reflects a "good run" driven by students showing up more consistently, and by schools and communities working together to tackle absenteeism.

Term 2 Attendance Shows Significant Gains

In Term 2 of 2025, 58.4 percent of students attended school regularly. This is a notable increase of 5 percentage points from 53.4 percent in Term 2 of 2024, and an even larger jump of 11.4 percentage points compared to Term 2 of 2023.

"This is the first time that any term's attendance has been higher than the same term before Covid," Mr Seymour said. "It demonstrates the determination of schools, families, and young people to turn attendance around."

Every region in the country recorded higher attendance than last year. The most significant improvement came from Taranaki, Whanganui, and Manawatū, where attendance rose by 7.2 percentage points.

Chronic Absence Declining

Alongside higher regular attendance, the government is also encouraged by a reduction in chronic absence—students missing 30 percent or more of school. Chronic absence rates fell to 9.3 percent in Term 2 this year, down from 9.6 percent in 2024 and 12.5 percent in 2023.

"Many of these children face complex needs," Seymour explained. "It's very encouraging to see their engagement improving. We're not complacent, though—we still need to do more."

Attendance Action Plan and Enforcement

The government's Attendance Action Plan includes new requirements for schools and families:

• By Term 1 of 2026, all schools must have a formal attendance management plan, aligned with the Stepped Attendance Response (STAR) framework.

• Prosecution will be an option for parents or guardians who repeatedly refuse to send their children to school and fail to engage with support services. This will only occur in the most serious cases, when all other avenues have been exhausted, and with family circumstances carefully considered.

"The Ministry of Education is working directly with attendance service providers and schools to ensure cases of non-engagement are properly referred," Seymour said.

Strengthening Frontline Services

Starting in 2026, frontline attendance services will face new accountability measures. These include:

• Access to a new case management system.

• Better use of data monitoring to identify and manage absences early.

• Stricter oversight of provider contracts to ensure responsiveness and efficiency.

"The goal is to have frontline teams that are data-driven, more accountable, and much better at managing complex cases," Seymour explained.

Major Investment in Attendance

The 2025 Budget allocated a $140 million package over the next four years to improve school attendance nationwide. This funding will support data systems, intervention programs, attendance services, and community engagement initiatives.

Seymour stressed that improving attendance is about much more than numbers—it is about securing children's futures.

Why Attendance Matters

"Attending school is the first step toward achieving positive educational outcomes," he said. "Those outcomes flow into better health, higher incomes, more stable jobs, and greater participation in communities. These are opportunities that every student deserves."

Looking Ahead

With momentum building, the government believes that sustained investment, stronger monitoring, and firmer expectations for parents will continue to improve attendance in the years ahead. For the first time since Covid, attendance is not only improving but surpassing pre-pandemic levels—a turning point for New Zealand's education system.