School year calculator
Which school year is your child likely to be in?
Choose their birth month and year to estimate their New Zealand school year level and see the years ahead.
Children can usually start school once they turn 5 and must be enrolled by their sixth birthday. Confirm the starting date with the school.
Choose a birth month and year to see the year-level estimate.
How the estimate works
For a simple estimate, the calculator treats January-June births as Year 1 in the year the child turns 5. It treats July-December births as Year 0 first, followed by Year 1 the next January. The Ministry funding-year rule uses the exact first day at school, so check with the school if your child starts around mid-year or through cohort entry.
Read the Year 0 guideCommon questions
Is the Year 0 cutoff May or July?
The Ministry's funding-year rule is based on a child's first day at school, not a May birthday cutoff. A child who starts on or before 1 July is recorded as Year 1 for that year. A child who starts after 1 July is recorded as Year 0 for the rest of the year. This calculator uses birth month as an estimate because it doesn't ask for the exact starting date.
What is Year 0?
Schools commonly use Year 0 for children who first attend after the 1 July funding-year cutoff. It isn't a setback or a measure of progress. Those children usually move into Year 1 at the start of the next calendar year.
How does cohort entry affect this?
Many schools still use continuous entry, where children start on or after their fifth birthday. Cohort-entry schools start new children in groups on set dates. If cohort entry moves a child's actual first school day from June to July, the school may treat their placement differently from this birth-month estimate.
When does my child have to be enrolled?
Most children can start school once they turn 5. Schooling is compulsory from age 6, so children need to be enrolled by their sixth birthday unless they are formally home educated.
Does this match every school?
Not always. A Ministry funding year level can differ from a child's classroom placement, and schools can adjust the current year level. Use this as a planning estimate, then confirm it with the school.