Introduction

While there is overlap in some schools, primary school traditionally runs from Year 1 to Year 8 and secondary school from Year 9 to Year 13. Depending on the area, Years 7 and 8 may be taken either at a 'full' primary school (in contrast to a Year 1–6 'contributing' primary school), a separate intermediate school, or at a Year 7–13 secondary school. Schools catering for both primary school and secondary school students (Years 1 to 13) are common among private schools, and also state schools in areas where the population does not justify separate primary and secondary schools (the latter are termed 'area schools').

The main six types of schools are:
Contributing Primary school: Years 1–6 (ages 5–11). There are no private contributing primaries.
Full Primary school: Years 1–8 (ages 5–13). Common among integrated and private schools.
Intermediate school: Years 7–8 (ages 10–13). Only two non-state intermediate schools exist.
Secondary school: Years 9–13 (ages 13–18).
Year 7–13 secondary school or Secondary school with intermediate: Years 7–13 (ages 10–18). Common among integrated and private schools, and state schools in Invercargill and South Island provincial areas.
Composite school or Area school: Years 1–13 (ages 5–18). Common among integrated and private schools.
There are some schools that fall outside the traditional year groupings. All of the following types of schools are rare, with less than ten of each type existing.

Middle School: Years 7–10 (ages 10–15). Only six exist
Senior School: Years 11–13 (ages 14–18). Only four exist (Albany Senior High School, Auckland, Auckland International College, Auckland, Rototuna Senior High School, Hamilton and Ormiston Senior College, Auckland)
In addition, there are three other types of schools defined by the Ministry of Education:

Correspondence school: Preschool – Year 13 (Preschool – age 19). Serves distance education, for those in remote areas or for individual subjects not offered by a school. The only school of this type is the national correspondence school: Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu.
Special school: Preschool – age 21. Serves special education to those with intellectual impairments, visual or hearing impairments, or learning and social difficulties, who receive Ongoing Resourcing Scheme (ORS) funding.
Teen parent unit: Years 9–15 (age 12–19). Serves teenage parents in continuing secondary school education. They are under the jurisdiction of a hosting secondary school, but are largely autonomous.