13/08/2025
Elliot Pilmore
[FYI request #31619 email]
Tēnā koe Elliot
OIA: 1351142 – Students enrolled at each charter school and total funding allocated to each
school to date
Thank you for your email of 16 July 2025 to the Charter School Agency (the CSA) requesting the
following information:
1. A breakdown of the number of students currently enrolled in each charter school in
Aotearoa New Zealand, separated by primary and secondary levels.
2. The total amount of government funding allocated to each of these schools to date.
This information is essential for the public evaluation of the performance and cost-
effectiveness of charter schools, particularly given their reliance on public funds.
Should it not be possible to provide the detailed school-by-school data outlined above, I
request, at a minimum:
3. The total number of students currently enrolled in charter schools nationwide, with a
breakdown by primary and secondary education sector.
4. The total amount of public funding provided to charter schools, similarly broken down by
primary and secondary levels.
Your request has been considered under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act) and numbered
for the purposes of responding.
Regarding
parts two and four of your request, the funding model for charter schools is intended to
provide broadly equivalent resourcing to that of similar state schools. It has a strong focus on per-
student funding and making sure that the funding follows the student as they move from a state
school to a charter school.
Charter school funding is adjusted throughout the year depending on student roll data. This can
include reducing future payments or recovery of funds to account for any over payment. Total
Charter School Agency, 1 The Terrace, Mezzanine floor, Wellington 6011
PO Box 1666, Wellington 6140 Phone: +64 4 463 8000 Fax: +64 4 463 8001
charterschools.govt.nz
funding paid to sponsors for the 2025 calendar will not be known until the final payment is
calculated later in the year.
The total amount paid to sponsors for the 2024/25 financial year will however soon be published by
the CSA. I am therefore refusing
part four of your request under section 18(d) of the Act, as the
information requested will soon be publicly available.
The CSA does not intend to publish a per school breakdown of funding and I am withholding the
information in scope of
part two of your request under section 9(2)(b)(ii) of the Act, to protect
information where the making available of the information would be likely unreasonably to
prejudice the commercial position of the person who supplied or who is the subject of the
information.
In response to
part three of your request, as at the July 2025 roll return, there were 287 students
enrolled across the seven charter schools that opened in Term 1 2025.
Regarding a breakdown by primary and secondary sector, in the July 2025 roll return there were
152 charter school students enrolled at full primary or contributing schools, and 135 charter school
students enrolled at secondary schools. This is not a breakdown of year level, but by school type.
Therefore, any Year 7 or 8 students who are at secondary schools which cater to those year
groups are counted in the secondary school figure. Composite schools are included in the primary
figure.
Please note, it is not accurate to apply the roll return figure to determine per-student funding. This
is because:
• roll numbers change throughout the year
• funding is adjusted throughout the year
• significant components of the funding in their first year of operation are calculated on the
schools’ establishment roll. This is a realistic, evidence-based forecast of the schools’ likely
roll in their fifth term of operation.
At this point in time, the CSA does not intend to release the numbers of students currently enrolled
at each individual school during the crucial establishment phase because this could undermine
their commercial position and their efforts to build their roll and deliver quality education.
I am therefore withholding the per school enrolment breakdown per
part one of your request under
section 9(2)(b)(ii) of the Act, as above.
As required under section 9(1) of the Act, I have considered the public interest in releasing the
information withheld as part of this response. I do not consider the public interest considerations
favouring the release of this information are sufficient to outweigh the need to withhold it at this
time.
Thank you again for your email. You have the right to ask an Ombudsman to review my decision
on your request, in accordance with section 28 of the Act. You can do this by writing to
[email address] or to Office of the Ombudsman, PO Box 10152, Wellington 6143.
OIA: 1351142
charterschools.govt.nz
Nāku noa, nā
Juliette Hayes
Head of Performance and Monitoring
Charter School Agency
OIA: 1351142
charterschools.govt.nz
