Overview
The 2027 Te Waka Whakarei Career-Changer Scholarship supports people moving into teaching in Kaupapa Māori, Māori-medium or immersion settings, or teaching te reo Māori in English-medium secondary schools.
Complete scholarship details
The Ministry of Education lists 90 scholarships. The award pays approved teaching-course fees and provides an NZD 30,000 annual allowance over the period of study, limited to three years. Recipients must complete a teaching bonding period, with the required service length depending on the scholarship study duration.
Eligibility requirements
Applicants generally must be changing career or profession to teaching and have at least seven years of paid or unpaid work experience since leaving school, or qualify through specified unqualified-teacher or kaiāwhina/kaiārahi pathways. Applicants must be New Zealand citizens, permanent residents or residents; be enrolled, have applied for, or plan to enrol in approved initial teacher education; and meet the scholarship's Māori-medium, immersion or te reo Māori teaching focus. Previous TeachNZ scholarship recipients, already qualified/registered teachers and School Onsite Training Programme participants are not eligible.
Tips for this scholarship
Practical Job and Scholarship guidance. These tips do not replace official rules or create new eligibility requirements.
- Check eligibility, funding coverage, study/project level and every required document before investing time in the application.
- Prepare transcripts, references, language tests, proposal/motivation statement and proof documents early.
- Separate the scholarship deadline from any university/program admission deadline; they may be different.
- Treat “fully funded” as a source fact only when the official provider explicitly confirms the covered costs.
Verification notes
Verified against the New Zealand Ministry of Education Education Workforce page, last updated 5 August 2026, and its official Apply now link. The page states the 2027 round is open from 3 to 31 August 2026.
Job and Scholarship is the discovery and verification layer. Confirm eligibility, dates, salary/funding and application instructions on the original source before submitting anything.
Education Workforce – New Zealand Ministry of Education ↗