How to submit your home education exemption application

You've opened the MoE form. You're staring at all those sections. It looks like it wants you to fill in your entire teaching programme right there in the PDF fields. Maybe you've started trying. Maybe you closed it and have been avoiding it for a week.

Here is the thing almost nobody tells you upfront: you don't fill in the whole form.

You fill in the first page — your family's basic details — and you send your teaching programme as a separate document alongside it. That's the complete submission.

The form is a cover sheet. Your programme is the actual application.

What the MoE form actually is

The official form is a short PDF the Ministry uses to capture your family's details. Child's name, date of birth, your name and address, the school your child currently attends (if any). There are declarations to sign. That's the part you fill in.

Everything else — your teaching philosophy, curriculum plan, topic plan, assessment approach, social contact, resources — goes in a separate document that you write and attach. The form is just the paperwork wrapper. Your programme is the substance.

Think of it like applying for a visa. The application form collects your details. Your supporting documents carry the case. Nobody writes their life story in the form fields.

The form is available on the Ministry of Education website. Search "home education application form NZ" and download the PDF — save it locally before filling it in, don't complete it in-browser.

What you need to send

When you submit, you'll email your regional Ministry office with:

1. The completed MoE form — page one filled in with your child's details and yours, signed
2. Your teaching programme — the main document, typically 10 to 15 pages, covering your philosophy, curriculum, topic plan, resources, and how you'll assess progress
3. A copy of your child's birth certificate
4. Proof of guardianship, if you're not the biological parent

The teaching programme is the real work. Everything else is admin. If you've received a draft from Pulled, that document is your teaching programme — it's ready to attach.

How to send it

Email is the preferred method across all regions. It gives you proof of submission, a clear timestamp, and a paper trail if you need to follow up.

Attach all your files, write a brief cover note in the email body, and send. Something like:

"I am applying for a Section 38 home education exemption for my child [name], aged [age]. Please find the application form, teaching programme, and birth certificate attached."

That's sufficient. No elaborate introduction needed.

You should receive an acknowledgement within a week. If you haven't heard anything after a week, follow up with a brief email.

Where to send it

The Ministry processes exemptions through regional offices.

Auckland homeed.auckland@education.govt.nz

All other regions Your regional office contact is on the Ministry's regional contacts page. The most current list is maintained by Cynthia Hancox — search "regional Ministry offices home education NZ" and her page is the first result. The Ministry's own website can be slow to update, so her list is more reliable.

If you're not sure which region you belong to, use your home address as the reference — the region that covers your territorial authority is the right one.

When to submit

Before your child's last day of school, if at all possible.

The exemption certificate needs to arrive before they stop attending. If your child leaves school before the certificate comes, they may technically be considered truant in the period between. That's a solvable problem if it happens, but it's easier to avoid.

Real exceptions exist — documented bullying, serious anxiety, medical issues — and the Ministry does understand circumstances. But as a default rule, hold school until the certificate arrives.

What happens after you send it

Approval takes 4 to 6 weeks on average. It can run longer at busy periods.

About one in three families receive a follow-up letter from the Ministry during this time. If one arrives, read it carefully before assuming the worst: almost all of these letters are a request for more information on a specific section of your programme, not a rejection. Respond directly to the points they've raised and approval usually follows within a few more weeks.

Outright first-submission rejections are genuinely rare. The follow-up letter is a normal part of the process for many families, not a sign things have gone wrong. We've written about what that letter usually means and how to respond →

Frequently asked questions

Q: Do I need to fill in the whole PDF or just the first page? A: Just the first page — your family and child details. The rest of the form's sections (curriculum, topic plan, resources, and so on) are there to tell you what your teaching programme should cover. That content goes in your separate attached document, not in the form fields.

Q: What format should my teaching programme be in? A: Any standard document format works — PDF, Word, or a Google Doc exported to PDF. The Ministry is reading the content, not assessing your file type. Name your file clearly: something like "Teaching Programme — [Child's First Name] — [Your Surname]" is perfect.

Q: Can I post the form instead of emailing? A: You can, but email is faster, gives you a submission timestamp, and is what most regional offices prefer. Post it only if you have a specific reason to. Keep a copy either way.

Q: My child's name is different from mine. Do I need to include anything extra? A: Include proof of guardianship if you're not the biological parent, or if there's any paperwork inconsistency between your name and the birth certificate. Better to include it and not need it than the reverse.

Q: I haven't written the teaching programme yet. Where do I start? A: The teaching programme is the main work of the application — 10 to 15 pages covering your philosophy, approach to each curriculum area, a topic plan, your resources, assessment method, and how your child will socialise. Pulled can write it for you, in your voice, based on a short intake form. See how it works →