Government announces new reporting system for student progress

Monday, 2 February 2026

The Government has announced a new reporting system for school students, which they say will give parents “clearer” and “more consistent” information about how their children are progressing at school.

Education Minister Erica Stanford said the changes, announced on Monday afternoon, would ensure parents receive reliable, easy-to-understand information about progress in reading, writing and maths, alongside attendance information and guidance on next learning steps.

“Parents have long called for clearer, more detailed reporting on academic achievement, and this new framework delivers that clarity. It supports parents to understand their child’s progress over time and to be active partners in their learning,” Stanford said.

Under the new reporting framework, which comes into place this year, parents of students in Years 0–10 will receive reporting across reading, writing and maths.

The changes include one of five clear progress markers describing learning progress, an explanation of why that progress marker was chosen and how parents can support next learning steps.

Students and parents will also receive information on progress over time and attendance, as well as information on phonics achievement and twice-yearly progress check-ins.

Reporting on other learning areas, values and behaviour will continue as it does now, with schools being allowed to continue using their existing templates where these meet the new expectations.

The second part of the change will see the introduction of twice-yearly progress check-ins for students in Years 3–8, supported by the new SMART progress monitoring tool.

Stanford said the changes respond directly to expert advice and long-standing concerns about assessment and reporting, with both the Education Review Office (ERO) and the New Zealand Assessment Institute (NZAI) having called for improved assessment practices and higher-quality reporting to parents.

“For too long, New Zealand has lacked consistent, reliable information on how students are progressing in the basics,” Stanford said.

“Both ERO and the Assessment Institute have been clear that without nationally consistent assessment and reporting, parents can be left without the information they need, and the system cannot respond early when children need support. We are acting on that advice.”

Stanford said the Government was focusing on “detailed data” that informs student progress over time and gives clarity to enable action and support across all levels – between parents, schools, the ministry and the sector.

“ERO’s reporting on assessment has also highlighted key practices in effective schools, noting that while use of these is increasing, it is still not universal in all schools.

“We are acting to ensure students, and the sector at all levels are supported with nationally consistent information on learning progress,” Stanford said.

The new approach replaces an assessment system that is more than 20 years old and has been developed following consultation with principals’ associations and teachers.

It has already been trialled in 85 schools involving around 12,000 student assessment engagements, with Stanford saying that feedback from participating schools has been positive.

“It is not designed to replace teacher judgement. Teachers will continue to use their professional expertise, drawing on classroom work, observations and assessments. These tools support that judgement and help ensure parents receive clear, consistent information,” Stanford said.

The progress check-ins will align with mid-year and end-of-year reporting to help parents see how their child is tracking throughout the year, not just at a single point in time.