Source: New Zealand Government
Raising achievement and lifting student performance in reading, writing and maths is at the centre of today’s Budget 2026 investment in education, says Education Minister Erica Stanford.
As part of Budget 2026, the Government is investing in the next phase of Teaching the Basics Brilliantly to transform our education system, ensuring every child has the opportunity to benefit from a world-leading education.
“Today’s literacy and maths package delivers substantive investment into twelve key initiatives that will help to embed generational reforms in our primary and intermediate schools. Our focus is ensuring that young people are set up for success at high school and well prepared to achieve secondary school qualifications,” Ms Stanford says.
Mathematics
Maths Hubs as centres of excellence and expertise to improve teacher confidence and capability
Hands-on maths resources and games for all Year 0-8 classrooms
36 additional Maths intervention teachers
A new times table and division check at Year 5
Within existing funding the Ministry will also be extending the Maths Acceleration programme to include tutoring for Year 9-10 students who are more than a year behind curriculum expectations.
Reading and Writing
New curriculum-aligned writing workbooks for Year 4 and 5
A digital writing tool funded for all Year 6-8 students to build writing fluency and confidence
New decodable books for older learners in Year 3-10
A 12-week programme for use by structured literacy intervention teachers to accelerate student learning for those who have fallen behind
Implementing a new Year 2 Literacy Check, covering reading, comprehension, writing, spelling and basic punctuation, joining the existing Year 2 Maths Check.
Universal guidance for teachers to improve the teaching of literacy, aligned to the new curriculum with supporting videos and resources.
Supporting the workforce with stage two of PLD
Professional Learning and Development for teachers and school leaders to analyse and interpret achievement data
Professional Learning and Development for all Year 0-10 teachers in High Impact teaching practice and explicit teaching.
Parents will have more information at each step of their child’s journey about how they are doing at school and students will be better set up for success when they enter high school.
“We are aspirational about what every child can achieve, no matter where they live or where they go to school. These investments begin to level the playing field, reducing costs for schools and backing evidence-led reforms” Ms Stanford says.
A new Reading Action Plan called Read to Succeed will underpin our approach to improving student achievement in reading. This joins our Make it Count Maths Action Plan and Write it Right Writing Action Plan.
“Together, the Read to Succeed, Make It Write and Make It Count action plans contribute directly to our ambitious target of seeing 80 per cent of Year 8 students at or above the expected curriculum level for their age in reading, writing and maths by December 2030.
“The latest Curriculum Insights and Progress Study data shows that early positive changes are already visible as we turn around decades of malaise. Student achievement data sampled across New Zealand in late 2025, only three terms into the reforms, shows encouraging early results, a testament to the hard work of teachers who are implementing these reforms.
“After the introduction of such a significant reform, with less than a year of implementation today’s results surpassed expectations. A statistically significant improvement of 5% in writing and 6% in mathematics for Year 6 students between 2024 and 2025 interrupts New Zealand’s long-term decline in achievement between Year 4 and Year 8 and will better set these students up for success at high school.
“While we have seen early improvement in some areas of student achievement after decades of decline and stagnation, we will know we are succeeding when we see consistent improvements over many years with more students achieving at curriculum levels and fewer students needing additional support. Today’s results are the first step in this journey, and we have more work to do.
“We made a promise to parents, students and teachers that we would continue to invest in these reforms year after year to ensure that they are implemented well to raise student achievement. Today we are delivering on that promise,” Erica Stanford says.
Budget 2026 sees $131 million invested in the next phase of Teaching the Basics Brilliantly.