Year 6 students posted a statistically significant rise in mathematics achievement in 2025, with 36 per cent now meeting or exceeding curriculum expectations under the Curriculum Insights and Progress Study.
Year 6 Maths Results Show First Uptick
Year 6 students posted a statistically significant rise in mathematics achievement in 2025. The figure reached 36 per cent meeting or exceeding expectations. This marks an increase from 28 per cent in 2023.
The gain covers roughly 70,000 Year 6 students. It equates to about 4,200 additional children now succeeding.
Earlier Reforms Drive Adoption
The refreshed mathematics curriculum, published in October 2024, took effect from Term 1 2025, according to the Education Review Office. The Make It Count programme, as set out in the Beehive factsheet, launched at the start of 2025.
The Education Review Office reported in October 2025 that 98 per cent of schools had begun teaching the new curriculum. Eighty-five per cent of teachers had changed their instructional practice.
Budget 2026 Adds Targeted Support
The Government will introduce a new Year 5 assessment of times tables and division as part of the Budget 2026 package. Additional classroom resources and teacher professional development will follow, according to the Budget 2026 announcement.
This builds on the $100 million four-year package announced ahead of Budget 2025 for expert maths teachers and diagnostic tests. Budget 2025 itself committed $2.5 billion over the forecast period in Vote Education. That included $132.2 million for accelerated literacy and maths learning.
Treasury will fold the new outlays into its fiscal forecasts. The spending affects OBEGAL and debt-to-GDP paths for 2026/27 and later years.
Remaining Gap to 2030 Target
The Government target remains 80 per cent of Year 8 students at or above expected levels in reading, writing and maths by December 2030.
These are still early results and there is a long way to go, but after years of decline, this is encouraging. — Education Minister Erica Stanford
Current Year 8 maths results sit at 24 per cent in 2025, up only slightly from 22 per cent in 2023.
New Zealand's average PISA mathematics score stood at 479 in 2022. This was 15 points below the 2018 result and below the OECD average.
Long-Term Fiscal Returns
Improved foundational maths skills are expected, according to Treasury's long-term fiscal analysis, to lift productivity over five to ten years. They should also reduce remedial tertiary costs and strengthen the pipeline into STEM occupations.
Targeted investment from within existing fiscal headroom supports measurable outcomes. It avoids broad new regulatory burdens on schools.
