About 5000 students a year would have to stay at school longer under a National plan to make teens finish Year 11 before they can leave, starting in 2028 if re-elected.
Party leader Christopher Luxon and education spokesperson Erica Stanford announced the policy in Auckland’s Northcote electorate this morning, alongside a plan for nationally consistent school start and finish dates.
Students can currently leave school once they turn 16, and many reach that birthday during Year 11, which was currently the year teenagers would gain NCEA Level 1.
Luxon said National wanted those students to stay on, earn a qualification and leave with the literacy and numeracy they needed to get a job.
“We don’t want 16-year-olds dropping out to sit on the couch. Staying in school isn’t a burden, it’s a head start to higher incomes and more job opportunities.”
Under the policy, students who turn 16 during Year 11 would have to finish the year.
Those who turn 16 in Year 12 would still need to stay until their birthday.
Stanford said the last months of Year 11 mattered because the new foundational award in literacy and numeracy would be assessed at the end of the year.
From 2028, Year 11 would also include compulsory English, maths and science teaching.
“Those few months at the end of Year 11 are crucial. We have now got a year-by-year, knowledge-rich curriculum. They were missing out on crucial learning," she said.
“The foundational award in literacy and numeracy... is set at the end of the year and based off the whole year’s learning. That’s why we need them to stay to the end.”
The change ties in with National’s plan to scrap NCEA.
National has also released its full education manifesto earlier today alongside the announcement around school leaving and school dates changes,
Exemptions to stay
Students heading into a job, apprenticeship or training would still be able to apply for an early leaving exemption. Stanford said about 1000 students a year were signed out this way, from a cohort of around 65,000.
She rejected concerns the policy could hold back teenagers bound for trades training.
“It is quite a process. You need to fill in forms to show that you are going into further training or study. You can’t just be going to nothing.”
According to Stanford, 1106 exemptions had been approved in 2025, about 90% of them for further education or training.
ERO report says attitudes to being in school have shifted markedly, but not everyone is convinced. (Source: 1News)
Labour leader Chris Hipkins, a former education minister, responded to the policy at a campaign event today.
“I want to keep kids in education and training for as long as we can to give them the skills that they need,” he said.
But he suggested examining if the exemption process might need to be made easier.
“We don’t want to say to kids who don’t enjoy school and don’t thrive at school that they shouldn’t go into an apprenticeship. That’s actually a really important outcome.”
Asked about teenagers who leave school to help support their families, Luxon said “we have enough support systems in place for kids to complete”.
Same dates for every school
National would also set consistent start and end-of-year dates for all schools from 2028.
Parents of students who were absent due to chronic illness or health conditions associated with a disability, or who were genuinely engaging with a school and the supports offered, wouldn't be prosecuted. (Source: Breakfast)
Stanford said she knew the problem firsthand, having had children at more than one school. Schools currently have a start window of about two weeks.
She said some schools had also been closing at random times during the year and adding days at the end, which she said was not allowed under the law.
“The end of the year, around Christmas time, is not the best time for learning. We need students to be at school all year, every day, learning.”
Hipkins said schools were already supposed to have standardised holidays.
“I’m not really sure what the problem is they’re trying to fix, other than the fact that some schools, particularly secondary schools, choose different start and end dates... we pretty much have standardised term dates now.”
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