What records does the Ministry of Education hold?

Records the Ministry of Education holds

The Ministry of Education holds records about:

• State (government) and state-integrated primary and secondary schools that have closed
• State and state-integrated school staff (mainly payroll information that can show which schools they worked at and complaints if these are shared with the Ministry)
• some residential special schools
• some health camp schools (from before 1989)
• students who received Learning Support (previously known as Special Education)
• enrolment information for State and state-integrated primary and secondary school students from 2006 and 2007 respectively (in the ENROL database). This database also holds B4SC Vision and Hearing Test Results, stand-down and suspension information, and if they were receiving learning support or were eligible for learning support
• the policy and operational files of:
  • the Department of Education (to 1989)
  • the Ministry of Education (since 1989)
  • Special Education Services (1989 – 2002)
• some historic files on admissions to Learning Support (previously known as Special Education) files.

Learn how to request your records from the Ministry of Education.

What records do schools hold?

Schools that are still open hold their own records. This includes:

• enrolment records
• student files (detailed records about individual students)
• staff employment records and
• records of complaints.

If you want to access records about your time at a school, you can contact the school (if it is still open). Once students have left school, the school does not have to keep information about the students. However, sometimes they keep some enrolment information.

Learn how to request your records from schools.  

What records might be missing from the Ministry of Education? 

The Ministry of Education does not hold school records unless the school has closed. Schools that closed may have: 

• provided their records to the Ministry of Education
• transferred their records to Archives New Zealand or another archive. 

Unfortunately, some records have been lost and we do not know the reasons why. 

Learning Support records from 1989 – 2002 may not be available

The Ministry of Education holds records about school students who receive or received Learning Support (previously known as Special Education). These need to be kept until the student’s 31st birthday.

Unfortunately, between 1989 and 2002 there was a rule that these records had to be:  

• closed if they were inactive for 2 years and
• destroyed after 3 more years.  

The Ministry of Education did not keep track of which records were destroyed under this rule. Unfortunately, if you received special education services between 1989 and 2002 there may not be any records.

Some Special Education / Learning Support records from before the mid-1990’s may be missing as well.  

Learning that your records may be missing can bring up a range of emotions. It can be helpful to have someone to talk to. Learn where you can find support.