Curriculum and Assessment Changes in 2026
During Term One we have sent email updates and hosted webinars to help support our sector with all the current changes to curriculum and assessment. This page has a summary of the support and updates we have provided so far, noting that dates and details will change as the year progresses.
We have created a PDF summary of curriculum and assessment changes, aimed at supporting environmental education providers who are working with schools:
Curriculum Change: NZAEE Provider Summary 2026
We hosted a webinar to sit alongside this document, with the first section focused on a summary of the current changes and proposed future changes:
Analysing the Draft Curriculum with an Environmental Education Lens
The webinar link above also includes a summary of our initial feedback on the draft curriculum framework and learning areas that are currently out for consultation. We are producing a series of documents to help educators submit feedback on the drafts, with the first published here:
NZAEE Guidance for Te Mātaiaho Draft Consultation
Recent announcements on Tāhūrangi
Phase 5 (Yr 11 - 13) Curriculum Drafts
The consultation process and timeframes for Yr 11 - 13 (Phase 5) curriculum documents have been announced with the full details here.
Key information includes:
- Curriculum drafts for Yr 11 - 13 subjects will be released for feedback from May - August
- They will be released in three groups based on subject areas and each will be open for about 4 weeks
- The first group (released in May) includes many subjects that are relevant to environmental education, especially since Education for Sustainability has not been included as a separate subject. These include Science, Biology, Earth and Space Science, Agriculture and Horticulture, Geography, Civics, Health and others.
NCEA update: New qualification system announced
The Minister has released an update about the proposed changes to our national qualification system, confirming that NCEA will be replaced from 2028 onwards.
Read the update on Tāhūrangi here, and the media release here (March 26th).
We are still waiting to see the public feedback that was collected last year and will keep you informed if we are given the opportunity to provide further feedback to the Ministry on these proposed changes. You can find NZAEE's original feedback on the proposal to replace NCEA here (published September 2025).
