One of the great benefits of homeschooling in New Zealand is flexibility—especially when it comes to how you assess your child’s learning. In New Zealand, you don’t need to complete formal assessments for credits (that count toward University Entrance) until your child reaches NZ Year 11 and begins working towards NCEA Level 1.
Until then, you have the freedom to choose how you assess your child’s progress and understanding in a way that suits their learning style, pace, and interests.
Let’s explore the different types of assessment and how they might look in your homeschool journey.
Most assessment tools fall into two main categories:
Summative assessments are used to evaluate learning at the end of a unit or topic. They help you see what your child now understands. Examples include:
Formative assessments happen during the learning process. They’re great for checking in on understanding and guiding next steps. Examples include:
At Functional Education, we provide a wide range of tools to help you track and celebrate your child’s progress throughout the year. Here's how we support both formative and summative assessment across different age groups:
These tools give you a clear picture of what your child is learning and allow for a balanced mix of assessment types across the year.
If you’d like to include more traditional, school-aligned assessments, that’s an option too!
NZCER (New Zealand Council for Educational Research) provides standardised tests such as PAT and STAR, which are commonly used in mainstream schools. Homeschooling parents can access these tests directly via NZCER’s website:
👉 https://www.nzcer.org.nz/assessments/pats
Simply click on “Purchase tests” and register using your homeschool exemption number. You’ll then be able to administer the tests at home just like a school would. (Note: There is a small fee involved.)
There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to assessment when you homeschool in New Zealand—and that’s the beauty of it. Whether you prefer a gentle, ongoing method or want to align more closely with school-based standards, you have the tools and flexibility to create an approach that works for your family.
If you're using Functional Education, you're already supported with a wide range of assessment options—without the overwhelm.
Want help figuring out how to use these tools for your child? We’re happy to help—just get in touch.
Up to 2 hours of lessons a day, plus hands on activities means you can easily give your child a quality education at home.
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Please watch our getting started video which covers a lot of the questions you may have.
Below is a playlist of videos that cover the learning steps for each class, in reading, writing and maths. You may find this useful when applying for an exemption. There is also a short description of what we cover in each course on the course overview page.
Use the playlist button (top right of this youtube player) to skip between classes and subjects)
Home schooling applications are different in each country and region. Before you apply to have a homeschool exemption we suggest you follow these steps:
If you are in New Zealand, and need further help with your exemption, Cynthia Hancox has various resources on her website that can help, as well as an application writing service. Cynthia and her team have processed many exemptions for families planning to use Functional Education.
This question is on the MoE application form in New Zealand.
Functional Education delivers lessons that align with the standard NZ curriculum. They are designed to sequentially follow the natural learning progress for each year level. There are planning sheets provided for each topic covered and these sheets contain learning goals and outcomes so that parents can clearly see what the child is aiming to achieve. The senior classes from Class 4-7 have weekly spelling tests. Each topic is designed to have a project/presentation at its conclusion. Some children will present to their families, others will access our platform and share their projects with 'classmates' and receive/give peer feedback as part of this process.
School workbooks are kept as a record of the child's learning throughout the year, along with handcrafts, art and photographs.
We have numbered our classes as follows:
Class 1 - first year of schooling (could be any age between 5-7 depending on when you choose to start your child at school)
Class 2 - second year of schooling
Class 3 - third year etc
Class 6 and Class 7 are the 'Intermediate' years
You can reach Fran directly through Facebook Messenger, or contact us at info@functionaleducation.com. We’re a small team and we respond personally. You are not dealing with a help desk.
Fran’s teaching style is warm, calm, and consistent. Many parents tell us that children who flatly refused to participate in school activities are willing to try Functional Education — often because the classroom pressure is gone, the sensory environment is controlled, and the same familiar teacher shows up every day. The 7-day trial is the best way to find out. There is nothing to lose.
This is the question almost every parent asks. The short answer is: not with a structured programme in place. Functional Education covers all core learning areas at the appropriate level for your child’s year. Many families find that their child actually progresses faster at home, in an environment where the pace is theirs and the anxiety is lower.
Holidays are now a lot easier with weekly billing. Simply cancel your plan during the last week of school. Enjoy your holiday, then re-enrol when you want to start learning again.
This will stop the payments. When you are ready to return, head to ourmain Functional Education website and click 'Enroll'. Use the exact same email from last time. This will reconnect you back into your original account and all of your progress will have been saved for you. You can just continue forward from there.
Note: If you are on a monthly plan, be aware that you are paying in advance for a whole month, so if your payment went out on the 2nd of Feb, you should have access until the 2nd of March. If you want to take a holiday during that time, there is no point in cancelling your plan as you have already paid for those weeks in advance.
You will need to cancel your current plan, then when your access runs out (at the end of your billing cycle), you can re-enrol using the weekly link. Here's how:
Please try signing in here: https://functionaleducation.thinkific.com/users/sign_in
If you don't know the password, or haven't set one yet, use the forgot password button.
If you still need support, please email support@functionaleducation.com
To view all the relevant laws and requirements for homeschooling in New Zealand. You can read the entire Education and Training Act 2020 here
Our friend Cynthia Hancox has written a fantastic summary of the act here: http://www.cynthiahancox.com/information/relevant-laws-education-and-training-act-2020
If you're currently doing a trial, you may find it hard to signup to the paid course.
The solution is to either:
If you cancel your trial, and signup with the same email address, our plaform will remember which modules you have completed and you'll be able to continue where you left off.
If you are homeschooling more than one child, you can enrol using a family pass. Use the link on the enrolment page
A family pass allows a single login to see all content across all courses. We don't offer different logins under one payment plan.
Up to 5 members of the family can use the same login details to access content, and this can happen simultaneously.
You can start your child anytime.
info@functionaleducation.com
Questions? Chat directly with the principal on Facebook Messenger.