New attendance service provision begins in Term 4

A refreshed attendance service will begin operating this term, announced Associate Minister for Education David Seymour. 

All existing contracts have now ceased, and new contracts have been issued. Attendance services will be administered by providers under new contracts in 83 catchments around the country, and 170 schools with high numbers of chronically absent students will receive extra funding. The overhauled attendance service will feature a new case management system and adjusted procedures for engaging with chronically absent students. Additionally, 170 schools with high numbers of chronically absent students will receive in-house funding to address attendance by offering additional support. 

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The new model is aimed at increasing capacity for attendance services as part of the Government’s goal to have 80 percent of students present for over 90 percent of term by 2030. New service providers will reach double the number of chronically absent and non-enrolled students, says MoE, under an “equitably resourced” model, funded from the $123 million in attendance funding for frontline services announced in Budget 2025. The services will spend time understanding barriers to attendance and how they can be mitigated, and collaborate with whānau, families, schools and other agencies to implement plans. Up to three percent of the new service providers’ funding will be used to address any unmet needs that pose barriers for student attendance. Providers will also be given “stronger levers” to escalate cases of chronic truancy.  

Related School News article: How schools can use AI to improve student attendance.

Some providers will begin this term (Term 4, 2025), but the majority will begin in Term 1, 2026. Next year, the Stepped Attendance Response (STAR) will also becoming mandatory procedure for schools and kura. 

In Term 2, 2025, around 9.3 percent of students were classified as chronically absent.  

“School attendance has steadily improved over the last year, but there are still too many students absent. These new contracts fix what matters for kids and families,” said Seymour.  

The new model is based off MoE and ERO reviews into the attendance service, which found that funding was not distributed efficiently and results were mixed.  

“We’ve re-organised the provision of attendance services, awarding new contracts and increasing support for services providing excellent results… By the start of next year frontline attendance services will be better resourced, more accountable, better at effectively managing cases and more data driven,” said Seymour. 

Related School News article: Improving the attendance issue.