Source: New Zealand Government
The Government is announcing new initiatives to strengthen the teacher workforce, and new data shows supply is at its strongest in two decades, Education Minister Erica Stanford says.
“Growing and developing the teacher workforce of the future is one of my key education priorities, and new projections show our initiatives are working. Our Budget investment and ongoing work is significantly strengthening teacher supply,” Ms Stanford says.
“As many as 5,200 qualified primary and secondary teachers are expected to join our teacher workforce over the next three years as a result of our work.
“Currently, we have more teachers in the workforce since records began in 2004, with the largest year-on-year increase for primary teachers in 2024 and for secondary teachers in 2025. We have more teachers in training, with first-time enrolments increasing by 30 percent in 2025. Retention rates remain stable, having stayed at 90 percent for many years.
“The latest teacher supply data projects a return to surplus for primary schools this year, with a national surplus of 530, set to grow to 1,350 by 2028.
“Through Budget 25 we have invested in hundreds of maths and literacy intervention teachers and learning support coordinators across primary schools and achieving surplus puts us in a strong position to continue rolling this out for schools.
“Secondary teacher supply is improving – we have a surplus projected in the next three years with a narrowing shortfall, and work will continue on closing the gap. There is still work to do and we are continuing to focus our initiatives on our high schools.
“In particular, there are gaps across Māori-medium settings and in some geographic areas, along with secondary teachers specialising in STEM subjects.”
Ms Stanford says significant growth in the number of people enrolling to train to as a teacher is very encouraging for future supply.
Workforce investment continues through multiple initiatives underway, focusing on supporting future leaders, teacher training, and staffing in rural and in-demand areas. These include:
- Aspiring Principals programme and Beginning Principals programme – 200 aspiring principals and up to 450 early-career principals will benefit from a new professional development pathway from Term 2. These programmes are evidence based and supported by mentoring, and aim to prepare experienced teachers and newly appointed principals to lead in schools.
- Boost for in-class training places for new teachers – We’re increasing the number of in-classroom training spots from 242 places in 2025 to 533 places in 2026. The School On-site Training Programme supports the Government’s work to supply confident, well-prepared new teachers and support student achievement.
- Peer to peer principal support – From Term 1, the Ministry of Education’s Leadership Advisory Service is growing. Leadership advisors are all experienced principals who are on call and available to support principals directly across New Zealand. They provide coaching and advice, and information about policy changes. The team is expanding from 16 to 32 advisors.
- Supporting rural teaching with Go Rural – The new Go Rural fund will promote teaching in rural and isolated schools and support new teachers wanting to experience teaching in our regions through removing financial barriers. Student teachers can receive a $4,000 grant to teach in one of 454 eligible Go Rural schools. Applications are now open, providing up to 123 student teachers this year.
- Strengthening Māori-medium teacher supply – funding for the Iwi Māori Work Support Programme has increased from $1.1 million to $2.3 million annually. This will support more iwi organisations to address teacher supply shortages.
“Teachers and principals are central to providing a strong education for our young people. These initiatives expand our work to ensure that teachers and principals have training and support they can depend on, and that areas in need have access to the teachers they deserve.”
Today, Ms Stanford also announced the new Education Excellence Awards which will recognise outstanding work across the schooling sector.
“Today’s data reflects where our initiatives are working and where to continue our efforts. We remain relentlessly focused on boosting teacher numbers and to ensuring teachers are well supported to provide a world-leading education for New Zealand students.”
Notes to editor:
- The Government has invested in a range of initiatives to attract, train and retain teachers with a focus on building a pipeline of New Zealand trained teachers, augmented by overseas teacher supply and returning teachers.
- Budget 25 invested $117.2 million in leadership development pathways, teacher supply initiatives and funded registration and certification to build the education workforce of the future.
- In Budget 24, $53 million was invested to train and recruit 1500 teachers over four years domestically and overseas. This included expanding the School Onsite Training Programme (SOTP) to 1200 places for aspiring teachers to train in the classroom. Applications for interested providers just opened and interest has exceeded the number of places available.
- An ongoing domestic and overseas recruitment campaign continues to run to attract and retain teachers.
Other initiatives include:
- Scholarships for people wanting to change their careers to teaching
- Changes to Immigration settings, the Overseas Relocation Grant to support overseas teachers moving to New Zealand, and the Overseas Finder Fee for schools to help meet recruitment costs.
- The Voluntary Bonding Scheme that encourages newly graduated teachers to teach in certain areas of need. Teachers can receive up to $17,500 if they stay at an eligible school for up to 5 years.
- The BeTTER Jobs Programme – connecting beginning and returning teachers with schools facing recruitment or retention challenges.
- Initial Teacher Education Course Finder Tool – provides information on all the teaching courses available in New Zealand so people can find a course that fits their needs more easily or move to New Zealand to teach.
- Funding to encourage former teachers to return to the profession as relief teachers and for teacher aides to upskill as Limited Authority to Teach (LAT) teachers.
New Zealand Education Excellence Awards
The Education Excellence Awards will recognise outstanding achievements in schools and kura in four categories – primary schools with up to 150 students, primary schools with more than 150 students, Kaupapa Māori, and secondary schools.
For each of the four categories, achievement in the following fields will be recognised:
- Raising student achievement
- Improving attendance and engagement
- Quality teaching and instruction
- School leadership
Nominations open on 16 March 2026 and will remain open until 10 April.
Full details on eligibility, the nomination process, and criteria for judging are available on the Ministry of Education website: www.education.govt.nz/education-professionals/schools-year-0-13/scholarships-and-study-awards/new-zealand-education-excellence-awards
