6-Monthly Declarations and Allowances

Every family who is home educating exempt students is sent a declaration twice a year (in about March and Oct), covering the periods Jan-June and July-Dec, to sign and return, along with forms in which they state whether they wish to receive the supervision allowance (which is typically paid in late June and late November). For new exemptions that start during one of these periods, the process is a little different. Let's dig into everything you need to know about declarations and allowances. 

Required, or not? Law and background. What if I don't do it?

Section 38 of the Education and Training Act 2020 is the part which describes the basis on which an exemption may be granted, or revoked, and how long it continues in force. Notably, there is NO mention of on-going reporting or declarations in that section, which means that technically they are not required in order to home educate.

HOWEVER...

The Ministry considers itself responsible to have some way of checking whether any given student, including those who are homeschooling, are being adequately educated. They use ERO reviews of schools, along with the collection of various data such as test results etc, to do that with school children. With home educators, they have the right to do ERO reviews, but not the funding to do them routinely (due to govt policy, see HERE for more). As an alternative, they came up with 6 monthly declarations, as a way of "checking in" with families. These used to be statutory declarations - meaning you had to sign them in front of a JP or similar, attesting to the fact your child had been and would continue to be "taught at least as regularly and well as." They removed the need for the witness of the signature a few years ago, but the declarations remain. 

If you choose not to sign and return them, this does not allow the Ministry to revoke your exemption immediately, as this is not permitted in the law. However, they can instead initiate further investigation, such as getting in touch with you to ask for an update on your learning programme, or ordering an ERO review to satisfy them that your child is being educated "at least as regularly and well as they would be in a registered school." Returning the declaration is considerably less work/stress! If the outcome of their investigations are not satisfactory, then they can move to revoke the exemption under Section 38.

AND, if you don't return the declaration, they will not pay you the allowance, should you wish to receive it - as the allowance is paid under Section 556 of the Act "Grants to Educational Bodies", which does allow the Ministry to set such conditions as the Minister thinks fit. The Ministry use the allowance as the "carrot" to get folk to return the declarations, and they are legally allowed to do so. 

Who is responsible for sending you the forms?

For students whose exemptions are already in force before the current six month period, or whose exemptions begin before the "print run date" of the declarations, these will be sent to you by the national office as part of the mass-mailing of declarations to all such families, usually in about February and August (though the date is up to the MoE and may vary - they used to be later but have moved forward over the last few years). These declarations and attached allowance forms will be for the full period of either 1st Jan-30th June or 1st July- 31st Dec, as appropriate, or slightly less if an exemption starts a bit later, but before the print run. 

In 2024, the print run dates were 15th February and 11th July. 

For students whose exemptions start after the print run dates, a part-period declaration and allowance forms need to be sent to you by the regional office who granted your exemption. If you do not receive these with your certificate of exemption or shortly afterwards (they may email them together or separately), then follow up with your regional office. 

Notes: 

• Regional offices also need to send the first declaration if, for example, they issued the exemption after the print run date but back dated the start date to before the print run date. This can happen, for example, where an exemption is granted during the July school holidays and back dated to 1st July per MoE policy. 
• In years parts, part periods were added to the next full declaration. This changed in 2022, and will not be done. So, if you missed the part period declaration, you can't just add the dates to the next form (also applies to any missing forms) - you need to ask for a copy of the missed one and complete/send it in. 
• If a child is missing from your declaration form, contact your regional office. There may be an issue with their exemption status which needs to be sorted out first, or they've overlooked sending the part-period form. 
• When regional offices issues part-period forms, sometimes they do a separate form for a newly exempt child only, other times they reissue the declaration for all exempt children in the family. Don't worry either way - sign and return it even if you've already sent in a declaration for the older children. 
• I recommend you keep a copy of your declaration form for your records (and the covering letter). It may come in handy if something goes awry, as well as being useful for having your Family Reference Number and Student NSNs on them. Always quote the family reference number when contacting the Ministry. (It's also on your exemption certificates). Once a payment had been received for a period, and you have a more recent declaration to keep on file, you can discard the older ones. 

You can find an up-to-date list of Regional Office contact details HERE. National office (Resourcing) info is near the bottom of the list. 

The supervision allowance

With the declaration, you will receive forms asking if you wish to receive the allowance, and if so, confirming your bank account details. The first time you do this, you need to send proof of account (and also if it's been longer than 18 months since your last declaration/allowance forms were filed). This proof of account needs to show your bank's logo, your name and account number, but does not need to be certified. You can usually print off something suitable from internet banking (delete or hide transactions/balances - they don't need to see those).​ 

The allowance was first paid in 1990. There's a while history to it which I won't go into here, but from 1990 until 2022, the allowance was never increased by a single cent. Thanks to lobbying by NCHENZ and Homeschooling NZ, it began to be increased by a small percentage in line with annual increases in funding to schools from 2023. The 2024 allowance amounts are:

• $796 for your first child
• $677 for your second child
• $557 for your third child
• $398 for each subsequent child.

These are annual amounts, and so each six months you receive half of the above, or a pro-rata amount if anything has affected your entitlement during the period. 

What can affect or reduce the allowance?

A few things can affect your allowance:

• If you don't return a declaration form, you will not receive the allowance. (However, if you return it late, you'll still get the allowance - see below)
• If your child's exemption starts (or ends) during the 6 month period, you will receive a pro-rata amount for the period, based on the days in which you were eligible for the allowance. 
• If you go overseas for more than 28 days, you will only be entitled to the allowance for the days in which you were in New Zealand. If less than 28 days, you get the allowance for the whole period. 
• If your child begins a school trial and is enrolled in school for more than 28 days, then you will be entitled to the allowance only for the days in which they were not enrolled in school (ie had an active exemption). If the school trial ends within 28 days, then the allowance is paid for the entire period. 
• If your 16+ student enrolls in Te Kura under the free Young Adult gateway, you will still get the allowance if they enroll in 1-2 subjects, but if 3 or more subjects it's considered "full time" and the allowance (and exemption) will cease. 
• If your 16+ student enrolls in a full time funded course (eg something funded under Youth Guarantees) their exemption and allowance will also end. 
• If your 16+ student stops home educating, then you need to declare this on your declaration forms. 
  
  

If none of the above affect you, and/or you have a valid exemption in force at the time your child turns 16, then you can continue to receive the homeschooling supervision allowance until the end of the year in which the student turns 19, if they continue to be home educated and you continue to return the declarations and allowance forms. 

I didn't receive a payment, or the amount seems wrong. What do I do?

If you returned the declaration forms by the date specified on the covering letter, you should receive the payment in the week indicated on the letter (it may be any day of that week, depending on the bank). If you haven't received it a week later, then follow up with Resourcing. These dates can vary - in 2024 they were late June and late November. 

Likewise, if the amount seems wrong, you can follow up with Resourcing about this, but first ask yourself:

• Was my exemption in force for the entire 6 month period (1st Jan to 30th June or 1st July to 31st Dec), and not affected by overseas travel, a school trial etc? If the answer is yes, then you should have received the full amount listed above. 
• Did your exemption start part way through a 6 month period? You can use a calendar to count how many weeks it was in effect for out of the 6 months (or how many days) and then calculate how much you should have received. Eg, Mary's exemption starts on 2nd October. That means it will be in force from 2nd Oct to 31st Dec, which is 11 weeks. The full allowance is for 26 weeks (half the year - using rounded/rough figures). So Mary's parent is eligible for 11/26 x $796 (if she's the eldest/only exempt child) = $336.77
• Was your child enrolled in school for a school trial or out of the country for more than 28 days during the payment period? Then like the above point, you would only be eligible for a pro-rata amount. 

Is the allowance taxable? What can I spend it on?

The allowance is not taxable income - it's an educational grant. You don't need to declare it to WINZ or IRD. 

You can spend it on whatever you like! Most families spend it on homeschooling resources or extracurricular activities, but you are not limited to that. I've known some families over the years who didn't want to be "dependent" on the allowance in order to home educate, so made a point of spending it on something special which benefitted them but was not directly homeschooling related (eg a dishwasher or a holiday trip). 

I'm late/missed some forms, what do I do?

If you have missed sending in any declaration and allowance forms by the deadline (or even from past years), all you need to do is catch them up. If you still have the forms, complete and return them. If they are missing, then contact Resourcing and ask for copies. Once you complete and return them, the MoE will catch up missed payments to you, adding them to their next payment schedule (usually run every 2-4 weeks). The Ministry still wants your missing forms. There is no specific time limit on this. 

You will see above where I said that they can initiate investigations if you don't return the forms. First, they would send a reminder. Then they can take further action. However, they don't always do this. Getting things sorted/caught up yourself is unlikely to cause you any issues. 

Note: YOU are responsible for ensuring the Ministry has your up-to-date contact details. If you've moved, then email your regional office (the one for where you now live) and give them your new details. If you've shifted regions, your family's file will be sent to the new office, and your details for declarations etc will be updated. 

Summary & Conclusion

Signing and returning the 6 monthly declarations (and ensuring the Ministry has your up to date contact details) is the responsibility of each home educating family. While doing this is not required by law, not doing it can initiate other investigations into whether or not your child is "being taught as regularly and well as..". Along with the declaration, is an optional allowance. Payment of the allowance is dependent on you returning the forms, confirming your bank account details, and may be affected by various specific circumstances outlined above. The allowance is non-taxable and can be spent however you like. 

If you have missed any forms, contact your regional office (if the exemption is new) or the national Resourcing department for new forms.