By law, children and rangatahi | young people in New Zealand aged 6 to 16 years old must be enrolled in school. There are some situations where your 15-year-old can get permission to leave school early. This could be to go on to other training or a job.
If your child wants to leave school before they are 16 years old, you as the parent or legal guardian must apply for an Early Leaving Exemption.
An Early Leaving Exemption is approval from us for your 15-year-old to be exempt from enrolment at a school. They cannot be younger than 15 years old when you apply.
Rules for allowing students to leave school early are very strict. We do not approve every application.
How to apply for an Early Leaving Exemption
To be considered for an Early Leaving Exemption, your child must have passed Year 8 numeracy and literacy standards. They must also be enrolled at secondary school in Year 9 or higher.
Your child should have a plan in place for when they leave school as part of the application process. This could be formal training, such as an apprenticeship, or employment.
To get an application form, contact your regional office.
The application has 3 parts. You will be asked to provide the following information.
- Your reasons for applying on behalf of your child, outlining the benefits they will get by leaving school early.
- Information from your school principal, describing the benefit of staying at school or going to another school, and the options for keeping your child actively involved in learning.
- Confirmation from a training provider or employer that your child will be enrolled or employed there.
If we grant an Early Leaving Exemption, it must be on the basis that your child meets the legal requirements. There are 3 criteria that must be met.
- Educational problems at school. This includes looking at the issues, what support your child is getting and if other help is available. That may be accessing another programme.
- Conduct at school. This also includes looking at the issues, what support your child is getting and if other help is available.
- The benefits, if any, your child is likely to get from attending another available school.
The information you provide us to support your application should touch on these matters.
Section 39 of the Education and Training Act 2020 details the legal requirements for exempting a student from school at 15.
Education and Training Act 2020 – New Zealand Legislation
Alternatives to leaving school
If your Early Leaving Exemption is not approved, you can work with your school to find another option.
In school, this could include programmes that help your child move into the workforce or tertiary training, such as:
- Gateway programmes.
- Secondary Tertiary Alignment Resource (STAR) programmes.
There are also options for child through your enrolled school. They include:
- alternative education
- activity centres
- service academies
- trades academies.
Some programmes will allow your child to gain National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) Level 2 and higher. You can find out more about this, and other vocational training pathways, on the Youth Guarantee and Careers New Zealand websites.
Supporting young people to achieve NCEA – Youth Guarantee
Start tertiary or workplace learning while at school – Careers New Zealand
Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu is New Zealand's distance learning school. It is free for eligible students aged 19 and under.
Students who are at their enrolled school can also study courses with Te Kura that aren't available at their own school.
You can also contact your regional office for more information, and they can talk you through these options.
