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Ministry of Education New Zealand

What the STAR funding grant is for

The STAR funding grant is for your school or kura to use to support students transition to further education, training or employment. It can be used to fund a wide range of courses and career-related experiences for students. You can use some of the funding to employ a STAR coordinator or administrator.

It does not cover the full cost of courses and should be used alongside the regular funding each student gets.

Find out more about the STAR programme.

Secondary Tertiary Alignment Resource (STAR)

Who can get the STAR funding grant

STAR funding is available to state and state-integrated schools and kura with Year 11 to 13+ students. It is automatically included in your operational funding payment if your school or kura is eligible.

How we work out the STAR grant amount

The amount you receive is based on the number of STAR funding units your school is allocated. We calculate STAR funding units quarterly according to our quarterly roll count policy.

Each Year 11, 12 and 13+ student generates one STAR unit. Teen parent units are weighted at 1.5 units per student. Our initial STAR funding estimate uses your school's provisional resourcing roll, excluding adult students and international fee-paying students.

If your school has less than 30 units, we allocate your STAR funding at the rate per unit listed in the operational funding rates.

If your school has more than 30 units, we allocate your first 30 units using the base rate and the remainder using the additional STAR funding unit rate.

Our operational funding documents have the current rate.

xlsx thumbnailOperational funding rates 2024 and 2025
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pdf thumbnailOperational funding rates 2024 and 2025
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