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Please do not respond to this message.  
  
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Tēnā koe mō tō īmēra mai ki te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga.     
  
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[IN-CONFIDENCE - RELEASE EXTERNAL]
 
Kia ora John,
Thank you for your request.
The Ministry will consider your request in accordance with the Official
Information Act 1982 (the Act).
 
Under section 15(1) of the Act, we are required to make and inform you of
our decision on your request as soon as reasonably practicable and in any
case not later than 20 working days after the day on which your request is
received. You can therefore expect to receive our decision on your request
on or before *27 July 2026. If more than 20 working days are needed due to
the potential workload and/or consultations involved in answering your
request, we will notify you accordingly.
 
*The response date shown takes into account Matariki Public Holiday (10
July 2026).
The Ministry may publicly release on our website the response to your
request five days after you have received it. Any personal information
will be removed.
 
In the interim, if you have any questions about your request, please email
[1][email address]
 
Ngā mihi,
 
Enquiries National Team | Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga | Ministry of
Education | PN education.govt.nz

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[IN-CONFIDENCE - RELEASE EXTERNAL]

Kia ora John

 

Thank you for your email of 28 June 2026 to the Ministry of Education
requesting the following under the Official Information Act 1982 (the
Act):

 

I note that you have an attendance service for students with low
attendance, and I would like to request some information about your
policies and practices.

Could you please clarify the following:

 

 1. At what attendance percentage is a student referred to the attendance
service?
 2. Does the attendance threshold take into account absences due to
illness?
 3. How are cases managed where a student has a low attendance rate but
provides a medical certificate from their GP to support their
absences?
 4. Are students with medically certified illnesses treated differently
from students with unexplained absences?
 5. From 1 January 2026 to the present, how many students in the Auckland
region and the Wellington region have been referred to the attendance
service?
 6. Of those referred, how many cases have resulted in legal action or
charges being laid against parents or caregivers?

 

Your request has been numbered for ease of reference.

 

Information relevant to parts one to four of your request can be found on
the Ministry’s website at the following links:

o [1]https://www.education.govt.nz/education-...
o [2]Information for schools about the new Attendance Services 04206.pdf
o [3]When to request chronic absence (CA) support.pdf
o [4]Stepped Attendance Response – STAR - Ministry of Education
o [5]Attendance_Guidance_2026_v02.pdf

 

Could you please confirm if the above information satisfies parts one to
four of your request?

 

Following review of the above-linked information, should you wish to amend
parts one to four of your request, please let us know.

 

Please note that, in line with section 15 (1AA) of the Act, if refinement
or clarification of a request is sought within seven working days of the
date on which the request was received, the Ministry may treat the amended
or clarified request as a new request that replaces the original request
for the purposes of calculating the timeframe.

 

Ngâ mihi

 

 

Official and Parliamentary Information | Te Tâhuhu o te Mâtauranga |
Ministry of Education | KJ

 

[6]education.govt.nz

He mea târai e mâtou te mâtauranga kia rangatira ai, kia mana taurite ai
ôna huanga

We shape an education system that delivers equitable and excellent
outcomes

 

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