School attendance has continued to improve across the Nelson, Marlborough and West Coast region, with one of the largest year-on-year increases recorded anywhere in New Zealand.
Provisional Ministry of Education data for Term 2, 2026, shows 64.8 percent of students in the region attended school regularly, up from 57.5 percent during the same term last year.
The 7.3 percent increase was the second-largest regional improvement in the country, behind only the Bay of Plenty.
Nationally, 64.2 percent of students attended school regularly during Term 2, up from 58.4 percent in Term 2, 2025.
A student is considered to be attending regularly if they are at school for more than 90 percent of the term.
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says the latest figures show attendance continues to improve despite higher fuel prices and ongoing cost-of-living pressures.
He says the Government’s attendance initiatives, including mandatory attendance management plans for all schools and increased funding for attendance services, are helping lift attendance rates.
He says the Government has also committed $140 million in Budget 2025 to strengthen attendance services during the next four years.
The Ministry of Education says the figures are provisional and may be subject to minor changes.
Attendance data from 2020 and 2021 has not been included in historical comparisons because of disruptions caused by Covid-19 lockdowns.
