Source: New Zealand Government
Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the release of the full draft of New Zealand’s new Year 1–10 curriculum, another significant step toward delivering a world-leading education system for every learner in New Zealand.
“This is a major milestone. It’s been almost 20 years since our New Zealand Curriculum was last fully updated, much has changed in our country and the world since then. Going forward, New Zealand will have a clear, knowledge-rich, year-by-year curriculum that sets out what every child should learn and when, ensuring consistency, coherence, and a fairer education system,” Ms Stanford says.
The draft curriculum is now open for six months of consultation for feedback from principals, teachers, and educators as preparation begins for implementation.
Developed by New Zealand educators and curriculum experts, the new curriculum has been benchmarked internationally against those from high-performing education systems around the world. It is designed for Kiwi learners, ensuring both local relevance and global standards.
“This curriculum has been written by Kiwis for Kiwi kids. It is engaging, rigorous, and rooted in the science of how children learn, while celebrating who we are as a nation.”
Highlights include:
- Social Sciences:History covers New Zealand and global history, exploring how people, places, and ideas connect and evolve over time. Students will learn about early explorers, settlers, and migration stories, the Treaty of Waitangi/Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and key civilisations and figures that have shaped societies and decision-making. New strands include Civics and Society and Economic Activity (which introduces financial education to build practical money and economic skills). Geography remains central, deepening an understanding of people and place.
- Science: spans the Natural World and Physical World so that students can explore, investigate and explain the world around them. It includes learning that celebrates prominent scientists, including New Zealanders, who have made influential discoveries or advances, relevant to the content being taught.
- Health & Physical Education: develops movement skills, teamwork, and wellbeing through sport, choreography, and the Relationships and Sexuality strand. A key change is compulsory consent education, ensuring every student can build safe, respectful relationships.
- The Arts: provides a structured pathway for creativity and expression, with a strong focus on indigenous art forms unique to New Zealand. A highlight is the new Music Technology strand, preparing students to create and produce sound across digital platforms. The curriculum provides opportunities for composition, design and creation across multiple art forms.
- Technology: focuses on design, innovation, and creation, helping students to solve problems and become capable creators and informed consumers. Learning includes circuits, coding, food technology, design ethics, and sustainable practices, with opportunities to work in both digital and “unplugged” environments.
- Learning Languages: offers structured progressions across thirteen languages in five groups, Pacific, Asian, European, te reo Māori, and NZ Sign Language, providing a clear pathway from novice to expert and allowing schools to tailor learning to their communities.
“Many teachers are already doing great work in these areas, however, we know what is taught varies from school to school and not all young people have the same opportunity to engage with the foundational learning they need. These changes provide a nationally consistent framework that sets out the essential knowledge every student deserves to be taught.
“The updated curriculum framework Te Mātaiaho will underpin the deliver of the refreshed learning areas from 2027. For kura, the draft framework for Te Marautanga o Aotearoa is being finalised now and will be available shortly.
“This change is about ambition. It’s about raising achievement. And it’s about better outcomes for our young people. Every student deserves the chance to succeed. We’re making sure that every student, regardless of background, has that chance,” Ms Stanford says.
