Electronic information about your child
In New Zealand, schools are required to record the enrolment details of all current students. ENROL is the electronic system that schools use for this.
Each new school must make sure that when a student moves on to their school, that student’s ENROL record is transferred.
What ENROL records
When enrolling your child at a school for the first time, you need to provide an official document (full New Zealand birth certificate, passport, residency permit or parent’s work permit) to verify their name, date of birth, gender and eligibility for free enrolment.
These details, along with your child’s current address, are recorded in ENROL. Your child will be assigned a unique National Student Number which will identify their student records throughout their school and tertiary education.
During your child’s time at school, ENROL could also record:
- results of hearing and vision tests
- whether there are any notes from previous schools that could help your child settle into the new school
- additional information to help schools with completing required enrolment, statistical and reporting tasks for the Ministry of Education.
ENROL keeps a record of each school your child has attended. It helps ensure quick action from school and Ministry staff if a child who should be in school leaves one school but doesn’t enrol in another.
The information in ENROL may be used by the Ministry of Education for research and statistical purposes. Information may also be shared with the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) for research into supporting young people to reengage in education, training or employment. Any student information provided to MSD will be used only for research purposes and will not be published in a form that identifies individual students.
Privacy and your rights
The Ministry of Education is responsible for the management and storage of ENROL. The collection of this enrolment information is authorised by section 77A of the Education Act 1989.
A student (or their legal guardian) can ask the school for a copy or correction of their ENROL information.
Only authorised users can access ENROL. These are:
- school staff updating students’ records when they enrol, transfer or leave school
- Ministry of Education staff when updating records in specific circumstances, such as granting approval for home schooling, or when sharing information for research purposes
- District Health Boards accessing hearing and vision test results (access is limited to students identified by the school and only at the time of being tested).
Parents can ask a school principal can set a privacy flag in the system to restrict access to student information. If it is important that a child’s current school and home address is restricted in ENROL, ask the principal select this flag.
Students and their parents or caregivers do not have direct access to ENROL.
More information
For more information visit the About ENROL section, contact your local Ministry office or email e.admin@minedu.govt.nz.
If you have questions about enrolment at a particular school, please contact the school directly.