National is promising to tighten school leaving requirements if re-elected, meaning students who turn 16 during Year 11 would have to finish the school year before leaving, unless granted an exemption.
Currently, students can leave school at 16. Under National’s proposal, they would remain until they complete Year 11 or turn 16, whichever happens later.
Education spokesperson Erica Stanford says the change would help young people develop stronger skills before entering employment or further education.
“Strong literacy and numeracy skills give young people a better chance of gaining employment or continuing on into Trades’ training or other learning.”
The proposal sits alongside the Government’s replacement of NCEA, which begins in 2028 with a Foundational Award recognising literacy and numeracy. New qualifications for Year 12 and Year 13 would follow in 2029 and 2030.
Stanford says completing Year 11 would give students a full year of compulsory science, English and maths, alongside the opportunity to gain the award.
Students who have found employment or are moving into further training would still be able to apply for a leaving exemption.
The Party said that 1,106 early leaving exemptions were approved in 2025. Of those, 90.1 per cent were for further education or training, and 9.9 per cent for employment.
National also wants nationally consistent school start and finish dates, saying different calendars create childcare difficulties for families with children attending multiple schools.
Stanford says the party would work with schools on a more consistent calendar.
However, the announcement does not specify when the new leaving requirement would begin, how much implementation would cost, or what additional support would be available for disengaged students.
Those details would help families and schools assess how the policy would operate, particularly for young people whose attendance, learning needs or circumstances already make staying in school difficult.