Tutoring that fits the New Zealand school day
New Zealand is one of Qlive’s largest student groups, with families in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Hamilton and towns across both islands. Qlive teachers have taught 100,000+ hours of live one-to-one classes, to families in 30+ countries.
New Zealand schools run Monday to Friday over four terms, and the school day usually finishes in the middle of the afternoon. The most popular slots are straight after school, before dinner, and Saturday or Sunday mornings. Every time you see from Qlive, in the class confirmation, the reminders and the Qlive Learn app, is shown in New Zealand time, and it follows the clocks when daylight saving starts and ends.
Year levels and grades
New Zealand counts schooling in years, starting at Year 1 when a child turns five. That puts each year level roughly one ahead of the grade used in India or the Gulf: Year 5 is about Grade 4, and Year 11 about Grade 10. When you book, tell us the year level and school, and we take care of the matching.
What children in New Zealand study
Schools follow the New Zealand Curriculum, with learning areas such as English, mathematics and statistics, science, social sciences, technology and learning languages.
- Years 1 to 3. Reading, writing, phonics and spelling, counting and number knowledge. This is when early reading and number habits take hold, good or bad.
- Years 4 to 8. Place value, fractions, multiplication facts, problem solving, reading comprehension and written expression. Years 7 and 8 are often spent at an intermediate school, and the jump in expectations can be noticeable.
- Years 9 and 10. Algebra, geometry and statistics in maths, more formal science, and longer writing in English, as a lead into senior school.
- Years 11 to 13. NCEA, at Levels 1, 2 and 3. Students earn credits through internal and external assessments, and the subjects they choose in Year 12 and 13 matter for university entry. Some schools offer Cambridge or IB instead. NCEA is due to be replaced by new qualifications from 2028, starting with Year 11, and our teachers follow whichever your child’s school is using.
Our teachers also help with the statistics strand of NZ maths, which is a bigger part of the curriculum here than in many other countries.
Some families in New Zealand keep their children in step with CBSE or a state board as well, often because they might move back to India. We teach those syllabi too.
Home languages, kept alive
Many New Zealand families of Indian and South Asian background tell us their children understand Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil or Urdu at home but cannot read or write it, and that English takes over more each year. We teach these languages one-to-one, from letters and sounds through to reading, writing and conversation. Children starting from scratch can follow the Foundation programme, which builds Hindi, Malayalam or Arabic step by step through levels.
Where it helps, we match a teacher who speaks your home language, which helps a young child relax in the first few classes.
How it works for New Zealand families
- A free assessment. About 40 adaptive questions, guided live by a Qlive counsellor. The report shows what your child is strong at, what they are working on and the specific gaps.
- A matched teacher. Chosen for subject, curriculum, year level, your free times and, where it matters, language. A 45 minute demo class is available first if you want one.
- A fixed weekly slot. Classes are usually 60 minutes, live on Google Meet with the learning on Qlive Space, Qlive’s AI-powered, activity-based learning platform. Classes are recorded.
- A Student Success Partner. One trusted person at Qlive whose job is your child’s progress towards the goal you set, bringing in extra practice, a revised plan or a talk with the teacher when needed. They are a message away in the Qlive Learn app.
Before each class the Qlive Learn app asks you to confirm, change the time or skip that day, then sends reminders 15 and 5 minutes before with a button to join. Each class also has a chat in the app with the teacher and the Qlive team. Worksheets arrive in Qlive Pulse between classes, with a checkpoint every two to three weeks so you can see whether recent topics have stuck.
Fees and payment
Fees are set per student after the assessment, depending on subject, curriculum, year level and number of classes, and you are billed for classes actually taken. New Zealand families usually pay by international bank transfer in AUD or USD, or by card.
Start with a free assessment
Whether your child is learning to read in Year 2, struggling with fractions in Year 6 or preparing for NCEA Level 2, the first step is a free assessment. You get a clear picture of where your child stands, with no obligation to book classes.
