New Zealand Students Achieve 4 Months Extra Progress in Maths by 2026

New independent assessment results show primary and intermediate students made the equivalent of four months' additional progress in mathematics between 2024 and 2026, signalling a turnaround in achievement, Education Minister Erica Stanford says.

The latest Progressive Achievement Test (PAT) data, released today by the New Zealand Council for Educational Research (NZCER), show statistically significant improvements in mathematics and reading comprehension and vocabulary.

Our number one priority in education has been raising achievement and closing the equity gap, and these results are incredibly encouraging.

It means more children are building stronger foundations in literacy and numeracy. These are significant gains and another sign that we are finally starting to turn achievement around.

PAT assessments have been trusted by schools and parents for decades, and these results add to other recently released independent reports that our children are making progress.

At a time when many countries are struggling with declining achievement, New Zealand's results are heading in the right direction. The phonics results, Curriculum Insights, recent PISA scores and now the PAT results provide a growing body of independent evidence that we are turning achievement around.

Ms Stanford says the Government has implemented a comprehensive programme of evidence-based reforms to lift achievement, aligned with its six priority areas.

The six areas are: a clearer curriculum; a better approach to literacy and numeracy; smarter assessment and reporting; improved teacher training; stronger learning support; and greater use of data.

We have completely overhauled the way mathematics is taught, introducing a knowledge-rich, internationally benchmarked curriculum and the requirement to teach an hour a day of mathematics.

We've trained more than 22,000 teachers in structured maths, provided maths textbooks, workbooks and teaching resources, introduced twice-yearly progress assessments, and funded maths intervention teachers for children needing extra help.

Students in our maths acceleration programme have made up to two years' progress in just 12 weeks, while our new Parent Portal provides families with a freely available maths practice tool to support maths learning at home.

These changes are all about giving teachers the knowledge, tools and support they need to teach the basics brilliantly, and they are working.

The results also show statistically significant improvements in reading comprehension and vocabulary, equivalent to approximately one month's additional progress in each area over the last year. After a prolonged period of declining reading results, we are finally seeing a statistically significant improvement.

We've mandated structured literacy, trained more than 30,000 teachers, introduced phonics checks and invested in hundreds of literacy intervention teachers to help children who need extra support.

There is still a long way to go, but the evidence is mounting that we are turning things around. We cannot afford to go backwards.

Our ambition is for every New Zealand child, no matter their background, to leave school with the knowledge and skills to succeed.

That's what these reforms are about: giving every child the best possible start and opening up a world of opportunity for their future.

Phonics Results (2025) In Term One last year, 36% of kids were at expectations for their phonics. 58% two terms later. Huge gains.

For our Māori children, 25% to 39%. And for our most disadvantaged schools, 18% to a third in just two terms.

That is because of the leadership and the professionalism of our principals and the hard work of our teachers who are running with these reforms.

Curriculum Insights (released May 2026) Curriculum Insights and Progress Study data show early positive changes. Student achievement data sampled across New Zealand in late 2025, only three terms into the reforms, show encouraging early results.

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.

PISA Results (Released 2026) New Zealand’s latest OECD PISA results show a significant narrowing of the socio-economic achievement gap.

Between 2022 and 2025, students in the lowest socio-economic quartile made gains equivalent to around a full year of learning in science, three terms in maths and six months in reading.Editors please note: With the attached graph The mathematics graph results show primary and intermediate students made the equivalent of four months' additional progress between 2024 and 2026.