Guide for students and parents

The Ministry of Education is responsible for developing education policy and providing advice to government on education matters. To do this we need to have an accurate picture of what’s happening in education at any given time. Building that picture is a challenge, particularly as there are hundreds of schools and a range of statistical databases involved in the process.

To simplify the task the Ministry, in collaboration with the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA), has introduced National Student Numbers. These have been used for senior secondary students for a number of years and are now being introduced for all school students.

The National Student Numbers

A change to the Education Act was made in 2006 to give the Ministry of Education authority to create a unique National Student Number (NSN) for every student. This number identifies students from each other and, when linked to information on students, provides us with the basic data we need to assess trends and develop initiatives. The numbers allow us to work with the information in a way that protects your privacy.

Your unique number stays with you for life—it remains the same even if you change schools.  It is also used by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority to record credits and qualifications gained by learners on the National Qualifications Framework. That means that if you have a Record of Learning number this will also be the NSN that your tertiary education provider uses.

The information we collect

The NSNs are stored in database known as the National Student Index. It contains only basic information about students:

• name
• date of birth
• residential status
• gender

The system does not include details about academic results or information about where students live.

What you need to do

Basically, you don’t have to do a thing! School students will be assigned an NSN during 2008 as part of ENROL Phase 3. (Link).  Authorised users of ENROL will create an NSN for those students entering a New Zealand school for the first time. 

Secondary schools will be following their usual processes to allocate these numbers to students that begin taking NCEA courses.

An online form is available for individuals to request a copy of the personal details held on their NSI record.  The form can be accessed at http://nsi.education.govt.nz/survey/moe2.asp.  Or you can request the information from your school.

Safety in numbers

Like any other database, the National Student Index is subject to New Zealand privacy laws.  Part 30 in the Education Act 1989 sets out that the NSN can only be used for the following purposes:

• Monitoring and ensuring student enrolment and attendance
• Ensuring education providers and students receive appropriate resourcing
• Statistical purposes
• Research purposes
• Ensuring that students’ educational records are accurately maintained.

Access to the database is very tightly controlled.

While the Act provides the legal framework for use of the NSN, all agencies using the NSN and NSI must also comply with the Privacy Act. 

Finding out more

You can find out more information on how we use National Student Numbers on the Ministry web site: www.minedu.govt.nz/goto/enrol or e-mail on: e.admin@minedu.govt.nz