Student Support Payment
On behalf of the Ministry of Education, Te Kura administers a payment to eligible supervisors of full-time ākonga which recognises supervised learning at home.
How to qualify
To qualify for the ākonga support payment, you must be the supervisor currently named on the ākonga profile and your ākonga must meet all of the following criteria:
- live in New Zealand
- be a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident
- be enrolled with us as a full-time ākonga
- have been enrolled for at least 10 weeks during the payment period
- be aged between 5–19 years old (21 years old for Ongoing Resourcing Scheme (ORS))
- be in regular contact with their kaimanaaki or kaiako, and engaging in their learning at least every two weeks.
Who isn’t covered
There is no payment for supervisors of:
- young adult ākonga
- overseas ākonga
- individual ākonga whose supervisor is paid by another agency such as the Ministry of Education or Oranga Tamariki
- adult ākonga
- fee-paying ākonga.
Payment times
Payments are made twice a year by direct credit into your nominated bank account. If all the requirements are met, you will be paid in July for the first half of the year (February to the end of June) and in December for the second half of the year (July to the end of November).
Payments for the first half of the year will not be made after the end of December of the same year. Payments for the second half of the year will not be made after May in the following year.
Half-year payment amounts
If all the requirements are met, the half-year payments are as follows:
- First child – $398.00
- Second child – $338.50
- Third child – $278.50
- Fourth child – $199.00
Receiving the payment
The payment will be made to the current supervisor of eligible ākonga at the time the payment is run. We are unfortunately unable to split any payments if there has been a change in supervisor during the payment period.
If we haven’t got your bank account details, please fill in the Student Support Payment form or call us on 0800 65 99 88.