| Here I bring together a range of known statistics for home education in New Zealand over the past 12 years, including exemption applications, ERO reviews as well as total homeschooling numbers. |  |
Year |
# Exempt Students as of 1st July |
Exemption applications submitted |
Exemptions approved |
Exemptions declined |
ERO reviews conducted |
Exemptions revoked |
2015 |
5,558 |
1,155 |
1,189 |
14 |
5 |
2 |
2016 |
5,837 |
1,337 |
1,243 |
14 |
4 |
Zero |
2017 |
6,008 |
1,467 |
1,342 |
18 |
10 |
<5 |
2018 |
6,298 |
1,509 |
1,394 |
18 |
9 |
Zero |
2019 |
6,573 |
1,536 |
1,411 |
26 |
6 |
Zero |
2020 |
7,192 |
2,218 |
2,062 |
24 |
2 |
Zero |
2021 |
7,749 |
3,776 |
3,496 |
31 |
5 |
<5 |
2022 |
10,899 |
4,032 |
3,478 |
58 |
8 |
<5 |
2023 |
10,777 |
2,440 |
2,150 |
28 |
16 |
<5 |
2024 |
10,757 |
2,341 |
1,979 |
107* |
106** |
? |
2025 |
11,010 |
2,372 |
1,977 |
105* |
111** |
? |
* Data for 2024 & 2025 from the Ministry combined declined and withdrawn applications, but did not include lapsed ones. In previous years, this data was separated out. For example, in 2016 there were 15 withdrawn applications, 14 declined and 56 lapsed. Only the declined ones are shown above.
** These figures include 96 reviews in 2024 and 104 reviews in 2025 of homeschooling students at or connected in some way with Gloriavale.
<5 - where a number is between 1 and 4, the Ministry does not usually give exact numbers, to protect privacy. They just give "less than 5" as the figure.
? While I have not yet asked the Ministry for the number of exemptions revoked in 2024 and 2025, the Minister said in answer to a Parliamentary Question in October of 2025 that since 1st Jan 2024 there had been 5 exemptions revoked.
** These figures include 96 reviews in 2024 and 104 reviews in 2025 of homeschooling students at or connected in some way with Gloriavale.
<5 - where a number is between 1 and 4, the Ministry does not usually give exact numbers, to protect privacy. They just give "less than 5" as the figure.
? While I have not yet asked the Ministry for the number of exemptions revoked in 2024 and 2025, the Minister said in answer to a Parliamentary Question in October of 2025 that since 1st Jan 2024 there had been 5 exemptions revoked.
Notes:
The number of exempt students as of 1st July is taken from the Education Counts website, where figures are recorded for as of 1st July each year for the previous 12 months.
All other data is for the calendar year from 1st Jan to 31st December and is sourced from the Ministry of Education or the Education Review Office.
Data as shown is compiled from various OIA request responses I have received over the years, and may be subject to change as additional information is received.
See previous posts for more detailed annual summary figures HERE
The number of exempt students as of 1st July is taken from the Education Counts website, where figures are recorded for as of 1st July each year for the previous 12 months.
All other data is for the calendar year from 1st Jan to 31st December and is sourced from the Ministry of Education or the Education Review Office.
Data as shown is compiled from various OIA request responses I have received over the years, and may be subject to change as additional information is received.
See previous posts for more detailed annual summary figures HERE
RSS Feed
