ECE licensing criteria in New Zealand — what your centre must meet

All ECE services must be licensed

Any education or care service for children under 6 years of age must be licensed by the Ministry of Education before operating. Operating without a licence is an offence. Licences are issued subject to ongoing compliance with the licensing criteria — failure to maintain compliance can result in conditions being placed on the licence or its cancellation.

100% qualified teacher requirement (centre-based)

All teachers in centre-based ECE services must hold a relevant early childhood teaching qualification and be registered with the Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand by 2025.

At minimum, 50% of teachers must hold a Level 7 qualification (e.g. Bachelor of Teaching, ECE). Services working toward full qualification compliance must have documented improvement plans.

Minimum ratios that must be maintained at all times

• Children under 2: 1 adult per 5 children
• Children 2 and over: 1 adult per 10 children
• Mixed age groups: calculate based on the age of children in attendance

These are minimums. Ratios must be maintained at all times, including during outdoor play, meal times, and when staff are on breaks. Having staff on site but not with the children does not count toward ratios.

Criteria 1–5: Safe and healthy environment

The service must:

• Have written health and safety policies reviewed annually
• Conduct hazard identification and risk management
• Maintain first aid kits and have trained first aiders on site at all times
• Have an emergency management plan (fire, earthquake, lockdown)
• Conduct and document regular emergency drills
• Maintain immunisation records and manage illness exclusion appropriately
• Have safe food handling procedures

Mandatory reporting — Oranga Tamariki Act 1989

ECE teachers and managers are not mandated reporters under NZ law — but they have a professional and ethical obligation to report concerns about child abuse or neglect to Oranga Tamariki (0508 326 459).

Your service must have a written child protection policy and all staff must be trained on it. Licensing criterion 46 requires services to take all reasonable steps to protect children from abuse and neglect.

Education Review Office evaluations

The Education Review Office (ERO) evaluates ECE services on a rolling 3–5 year cycle, depending on the service's performance. ERO assesses:

• Quality of learning and teaching
• Wellbeing, belonging, and inclusion of children
• Leadership and governance
• Compliance with licensing criteria

Services with concerns identified by ERO may receive more frequent reviews and must address findings in a written plan.