Settlement of Primary Teachers Collective Agreement

See MoE Circular 2026/09.

On 14 April 2026, the Primary Teachers’ Collective Agreement was signed by the NZEI and the Secretary for Education/Public Service Commissioner. 

The term of the agreement is 30 months from 2 April 2026 to 2 October 2028.

This circular provides a summary of the changes and new provisions agreed as part of the settlement. The full collective agreement can be downloaded from the Ministry of Education’s website: Support staff in schools' collective and individual employment agreements - Ministry of Education.

Key features of the settlement  

Remuneration 

The settlement provides an increase to salary rates as follows:

• 2.5% from 2 April 2026
• A further 2.0% from 28 January 2027 to all steps, except
• Steps 9 and 10 of the Trained Teachers’ scale increase by a further 2.1% from 28 January 2027.

New pay rates have been agreed as follows:

These rates will be effective from 2 April 2026 for employees who are NZEI members, or from the date they became members if that occurs after 2 April 2026.

Education Payroll Limited (EPL) will pay these rates to employees covered by the collective agreement in pay period PP 07, on 7 July 2026 and will backpay to 2 April 2026 or the date the employee became bound by the PTCA if after 2 April 2026.

Other Allowances

• The Associate Teacher Allowance of $51.60 per week is now a minimum rate, and a board may choose to pay at a higher rate, consistent with arrangements between the board and the provider.
• The School Camp Allowance increases to $35/day from the beginning of the 2027 school year.
• An additional 25 Cultural Leadership Allowances are being made available from the beginning of the 2027 school year.  These will be distributed based on the existing allocation method.

Learning Support Coordinators
Learning support coordinators may now be appointed full-time, part-time, or job-share.

Disregarded Sick Leave
The rules around disregarded sick leave have been clarified to make it clear when disregarded sick leave will not be granted by the Secretary for Education:

1. Where the raising of a complaint/personal grievance against the employer has substantially caused a stress-related or non-physical illness.
2. Where the employee being subject to a disciplinary or competency process has substantially caused the sickness.
3. Where the employer has agreed to support an application for disregarded sick leave as part of settlement of an employment relationship problem or a negotiated exit from employment.
4. Where payment has been made by the Accident Compensation Corporation.

Service Credit
There are enhancements for recognition of service credit of untrained teachers and recognition of staff who return to state schools from charter schools as transferred employees.

Chatham & Pitt Islands Provisions
The specific entitlements for teachers employed on the Chatham Islands have been updated to align with those agreed for Primary Principals, including increases to the Isolation and Freight Allowances.

Other Matters as part of the Settlement
In addition to the changes to terms and conditions outlined above, a number of additional matters were agreed including:

• A $2.5m fund to support short-term relievers to engage in professional learning and development. Further details will be provided shortly.
• 500 days of teacher release in 2027 and in 2028 to support teachers in U1 to U3 schools to support the roll out of curriculum changes.
• An additional 25 Cultural Leadership Allowances will be made available from the start of the 2027 school year
• Clarification that the Beginning Teacher Time Allowance should be used to provide beginning teachers with a robust advice and guidance programme, including potential release of their mentor teacher.

Individual Employment Agreements (IEAs)
With the settlement of the PTCA, new IEAs have been promulgated on 15 April 2026 for employees who are not NZEI members. 

For employees who are not NZEI members, the new IEAs will be effective from the date on which the employee and employer sign the Agreement.

These IEAs replace the ones promulgated in March.  Teachers who are not NZEI members should be offered the newest IEA even if they have signed the previous iteration. 

Please ensure you are using the most up-to-date letter of offer of employment for new employees, both of which are available on the Resource Centre: Permanent Letters of Offer and Fixed term letters of offer and notices.

Further guidance specific to the primary teachers IEAs is available here (scroll towards the bottom of the page).

Changes are made after every CA settlement so always use the latest template letters off our Resource Centre.

Government Fuel Response Plan

Earlier this week, the Minister of Education, Erica Stanford, announced a package of targeted, temporary support for schools as part of the Government’s Fuel Response Plan. The press release is here.

For further information please see About our fuel supply response - Ministry of Education. We recommend you bookmark this page as you will find all updates on the fuel response plan here.

Further guidance on the increase to the relief teacher travel allowance will be available shortly.

Upcoming workshops and webinars

Our learning this term focuses on two priority areas – employment and student achievement.

We encourage all board members to attend, ideally as a full board. The more members involved, the greater the impact on board capability overall.

Being a Good Employer – The Board’s Role (Webinar)

This session covers what it means to be a good employer, the board’s employment responsibilities, and the board-principal relationship.

Student Achievement – What We’re All Here For (Workshops or Webinar)

This session focuses on student achievement, how to interpret achievement information, ask effective questions, and keep student outcomes at the centre of board decision-making.

View the full schedule, share the link with fellow board members, and register today.

Ngā mihi nui,

The GovHub Team