What is a Section 38 exemption?

Any parent who wants to home educate a child aged 6 to 16 in New Zealand must hold a current exemption certificate. This applies whether your child has previously attended school or has never been enrolled. There is no exemption for children under 6 because schooling is not yet compulsory at that age.

If your child is already enrolled in school and you want to pull them out to home educate, you must have the exemption certificate in hand before they stop attending. The 20-day rule applies: a child is considered truant if they miss 20 or more consecutive school days without an exemption.

The legal test is whether your child will be “taught at least as regularly and as well as in a registered school.” MoE is not checking whether your curriculum is impressive — they are checking that you have a plan, that it covers the key learning areas of the New Zealand Curriculum, and that you understand it.

A strong application addresses:

• How you plan to teach each of the eight NZ Curriculum learning areas
• What resources and materials you'll use
• Your approach to regularity — not a school timetable, but some committed routine
• How your child will have social contact with other children
• One detailed topic plan (title, aim, resources, method, evaluation)
• How you'll assess and monitor your child's progress

Writing that sounds authentically like you — not a template copied from a community group — is one of the strongest signals MoE assessors respond to.

The Ministry typically processes applications within 4 to 6 weeks. Some regional offices are faster; a few are slower. The legal maximum is 3 months.

Roughly one in three applicants receives a follow-up letter asking for more information. These letters are written in bureaucratic language and are often mistaken for a rejection — they are almost always a request for clarification, not a decline. Responding with the additional detail requested usually results in approval.

Once approved, you receive a Certificate of Exemption. It does not expire annually — it remains valid until your child turns 16 (or 19 in some cases). You will need to submit a brief twice-yearly declaration confirming that home education is continuing.

Outright declines on a first submission are uncommon. If it happens, the standard advice from the NZ home education community is:

1. Do not appeal. File a completely fresh application addressing the specific feedback MoE gave you.
2. You can request a different regional office process the new submission — this is a legitimate and commonly used strategy.
3. If a second application is also declined, you have the right to appeal in writing to the regional office, and ultimately to the Secretary for Education.