Back in December I shared that the Ministry is presently working on updating the application forms and guidance documents. This is not intended to make the application process harder, but they’ve been working on this for the past year because the big spike in applications caused them to see areas which they felt needed improvement. Their stated aim for the review of the forms is to “to ensure the application process and requirements are clear for parents, and to support staff decisions. The large increase in home education applications in late 2021 highlighted areas to regional and national office staff which needed to be reviewed to ensure a smoother application process overall.”

I would also note that the Ministry has promised a refresh of the forms since they introduced the current ones in 2016, due to persistent technical issues with them.

The Ministry sent NCHENZ, as well as HSNZ, a draft copy of the new forms, and we provided substantial feedback on them a few weeks ago. The Ministry is now working further on the forms. What further changes they will make and when these will come into effect are yet to be seen.

Once I know what the final format will look like, NCHENZ and I will provide updates on anything families need to be aware of. 

Meanwhile, a reminder of my longstanding advice - it is best NOT to use the Ministry's application form, except for Section One. For the rest, use a separate document to answer the questions. Just this week I've seen another case where a family completed their application using the Ministry form, but when they sent the file to the MoE, at the Ministry end it appears to be 3/4 blank, even though the information is definitely there - both I and the family can see it, but Ministry staff can't, even in a copy transmitted by me on the family's behalf. That's just one of the frustrating examples of the many technical difficulties experienced with the current forms. Hopefully they will be resolved as part of the updated forms in due course. 

The Ministry of Education has begun a review of their exemption application documents. The stated purpose is to "provide clearer guidance to families." I believe this was mostly motivated by a large number of applications received in 2021-2022 which were significantly lacking in most of the information needed. (During that period, a large number of families made the choice to begin homeschooling, and rushed the application, without having taken the time to understand the requirements or plan out their learning programme). 

The Ministry plans to include the NCHENZ govt liaison team (myself and Sheena Harris) and other representative stakeholders in consultation once they have drafted their changes. I have also reminded staff of the long-standing promise to create a family application form allowing for more than one child, and ask that they look at this as part of the review if possible. 

I'm mostly writing this post to act as a "place holder" so I can create a category for it here - if you check back in future using this link, you will see all entries in this category, to read any updates on the review and/or any changes made to the application.