Frequently Asked Questions
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About charter schools
What are charter schools?
Charter schools are public schools, but instead of a school board, they are operated by a sponsor - an organisation that has signed a contract with the Crown to operate the school.
Charter schools have considerable flexibility around teaching, curriculum, governance, hours and days of operation. They can decide how to use their funding and can set their own curriculum. In exchange for this greater autonomy, charter schools are accountable for delivering outcomes via their contract.
Have there been charter schools in NZ before?
Partnership schools, as they were called then, opened their doors in 2014. They were shut down by the Labour Government in 2018. They either closed their doors or became state integrated or special character schools.
How many charter schools will there be this time?
The number of new charter schools is determined by the funding put aside by the Government in Budget 2024. Originally it was estimated that this would allow for around 15 new schools and 35 converting schools. However, the exact number of schools depends on a range of factors including their size, type, property arrangements and how quickly they are established.
There are currently seven charter schools which opened in February 2025.
Is there evidence to show charter schools work?
A 2023 study by the Stanford University Centre for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) found that because class sizes were smaller, students gained an average of 16 days of learning in reading and six days in maths in a school year compared to their matched peers in traditional public schools.
By the time they get to the end of their education, they’re a year ahead. Almost 100 percent of schools in New Orleans are a charter model, resulting in higher graduation rates and increased college enrolment rates.
In the UK, 40 percent of primary schools and 80 percent of secondary schools are charter schools (known as academies). One paper showed that seven out of 10 academies that were underperforming as council-run schools earned good or outstanding ratings when they changed to the academy model.
Converting to a charter school
Who would be the sponsor of a converting charter school?
Charter schools are state funded but are operated by a sponsor. A sponsor is the body approved by the Charter School Authorisation Board (Authorisation Board) to operate a charter school. It must be a body corporate, corporation sole, limited partnership, institution, or a related entity that wishes to open and operate a charter school.
For a converting school, the application process could be initiated by either a school board or one or more members of a school community together with a prospective sponsor. If the application is successful and the school converts to a charter school, the school board will no longer exist.
What level of community support is needed for a school to convert?
When considering applications, the Authorisation Board must consider the level of support from the community in which the school is proposed to be established. This covers both new and converting schools.
For converting school applications, the Authorisation Board must also consult the community and others to ascertain the level of support. This will involve consulting with the school board, school community, school staff, students, and any other people the Authorisation Board thinks fit.
How does the Act protect special character on conversion?
If the state school is a designated character school, a Kura Kaupapa Māori, or a state integrated school, the character of the school must be maintained upon conversion.
Equally, if a state school does not have a designated character, it cannot adopt one on conversion.
Enrolment
Can charter schools select their students?
Generally, a charter school must enrol all students entitled to free education who apply to the school. When a state school converts, all students currently enrolled at the school must be allowed to attend the charter school.
Instead of enrolment schemes, charter schools are restricted by the physical capacity of the school premises which is agreed during contract negotiations and stated in the contract.
A charter school may decline to enrol a student if enrolling that student would exceed the physical capacity of the school, in that circumstance they have to follow an enrolment process set out in legislation.
They may also be able to refuse enrolment if they have a special religious, philosophical, or other distinguishing characteristics approved by the Authorisation Board and notified in the Gazette.
Fees and donations
Can charter schools charge fees?
Charter schools cannot charge tuition fees. Under the Education and Training Act, they must provide free education and enrolment, as state schools do.
However, state integrated schools that an integration agreement that allowed them to charge attendance dues prior to converting will be able to charge parents a property maintenance fee, subject to it being agreed in the charter school contract.
What about school donations?
Charter schools follow the same arrangements for donations as other state schools.
Charter schools with an equity index of 432 or higher can choose to join the Ministry of Education’s school donations scheme. If a charter school is eligible and chooses to opt in to the donations scheme, it can’t ask for donations, except for overnight camps.
If a charter school is not part of the school donations scheme it may request donations. It’s the responsibility of the sponsor to ensure that the school’s parent and whānau community knows these donations are voluntary. This is the same for state schools.
Funding
How are charter schools funded?
Funding arrangements for charter schools reflect the greater flexibility in the charter schools model by providing funding mainly as a cashed up, per student amounts. This funding is calculated to achieve broad equivalence with the resourcing for state schools of a similar roll and type.
Charter school sponsors have autonomy over how their funding is spent, but they are expected to apply funding in the best way possible to achieve the contracted outcomes.
There is one exception: sponsors of schools that occupy property owned by the Ministry of Education must spend at least 70 percent of their capital maintenance funding on projects that create Crown assets.
Is there a lot of extra cost in setting up charter schools?
Establishment funding is provided to set-up of new charter schools, similar to what is provided for a new school in the state system. Charter schools receive establishment funding for up to six months before opening, and in many cases have been established more quickly than this.
Converting schools will not receive establishment funding. Some assistance is available to meet reasonable expenses related to conversion, in agreement with the Charter School Agency.
After the first year of operation, charter schools are funded only on a per student basis, meaning that the cost of operation is equivalent to the same students attending any state school. By comparison, new state schools can receive guaranteed funding for up to three years.
Performance targets
Do charter schools have performance targets?
Charter schools are required to show they are meeting performance outcomes outlined in their contracts. They have minimum performance targets for achievement, attendance and financial sustainability.
What happens if a charter schools doesn’t meet its performance targets?
If a charter school isn’t meeting its contracted targets, it can face interventions, which include being shut down for poor performance. The sponsors are accountable for the performance of a school.
The performance management framework sets out clearly defined performance outcomes, measures and targets, as well as the methods used to track these. It’s used to hold sponsors to account and provide the government and the community with assurance that charter schools are delivering quality education.
Who monitors charter schools?
The charter school agreement sets out the reporting required by a charter school.
The Charter School Agency is responsible for monitoring charter schools against their contractual obligations, and reporting to the Authorisation Board if an intervention is required.
Property
How is school property maintained?
Most regular state schools are based Ministry of Education-owned property, and they receive funding based on a combination of a school’s property entitlement, actual building area, and needs based funding (as required). That means the amount schools receives differs from year to year.
In charter schools, there’s a different system. They receive a per student amount of funding for property, rather than needs-based funding. There are two different types of property arrangements for charter schools:
- Sponsor leased / sponsor-owned
- Crown owned.
Qualifications and curriculum
Do charter schools use the same curriculum as state schools
Charter schools have considerable flexibility around teaching and curriculum as long as they deliver to their contracted outcomes. Charter schools are able to use the same curriculum as state schools. However, as with private schools, they can use their own curriculum.
Will students leave school with a formal qualification?
Charter schools are required to provide internationally recognised qualifications such as NCEA, the International Baccalaureate, Cambridge exams, and qualifications offered by Australian schools, for example.
Teaching staff
Do charter schools employ qualified teachers?
Charter schools have more employment flexibility than state schools. The sponsor employs all staff and negotiates salary levels and employment conditions.
At least 75 percent of teaching staff at a Charter School must hold a current practising certificate. The remainder of teaching staff must be people who hold a Limited Authority to Teach.
What will happen to staff if a school converts to become a charter school?
If a state school converts, all employees of a converted school will become employees of the new sponsor. Staff will be transferred on terms and conditions which are ‘no less favourable overall’, which includes in relation to the employees’ overall remuneration and service related to superannuation entitlements.
There are some conditions that cannot be easily transferred and will need to be modified, for example because they are centrally allocated, but these are to be confirmed.