NZCER's Generative AI in Aotearoa New Zealand Primary Schools — National Teacher and Student Survey

NZCER, an independent national education research body based in Wellington, published 'Generative Artificial Intelligence in Aotearoa New Zealand Primary Schools: Teacher and Student Survey Findings' in 2025 (Coblentz, Dong and Gibbs; DOI 10.18296/rep.0077). The study surveyed 266 primary-school teachers (Years 5–8) nationally and 147 students across four case-study schools, examining how generative-AI tools such as ChatGPT and Google Gemini are already being used in classrooms in the absence of a national policy framework.

69% of teachers reported weekly generative-AI use for lesson planning, assessment and personalising materials; 96% relied on free consumer tools rather than school-funded premium licences; only 44% felt confident teaching students responsible AI use; and 85% wanted more professional-learning support. Among students, roughly 90% had heard of AI and over half were already using generative tools, but most could not recall being given any adult guidance on when or how to use it.

The teacher sample was self-selected and 'disproportionately interested in generative AI,' and the 147-student sample across four schools is a small, non-representative case-study set — so the findings describe an engaged, early-adopter slice of the system rather than a nationally representative baseline. NZCER recommends centrally funded professional learning, privacy-protected access to premium models, culturally grounded national and school policies, and staged, age-appropriate AI critical-literacy teaching — an explicit acknowledgement that New Zealand still lacks a coherent national AI-literacy policy for schools.