How long will it take to get my records from the Ministry of Education?

How long it takes depends on several things 

Under the Privacy Act, the need to respond to you within 20 working days. If they need longer they need to tell you why. They must also tell you if they could not find any records about you.

For example, they may need more time if:  

• they need to search a large number of documents to find records about you
• the information is held in different places (at the Ministry, at Archives NZ or at the school)
• there is a lot of information to assess for redactions (hiding or removing some details, such as personal information about other people).  

Tell them if you need your records urgently

If you need your records urgently, tell the Ministry in case they are able to release some of your records sooner.  

If you ask them to prioritise your request for medical reasons, the Ministry may ask for medical information or documents.