Eligibility criteria for ACET

If you are a primary teacher employed under the PTCA or the applicable Individual Employment Agreement (IEA), you can apply for ACET recognition if you:

are a fully registered permanent teacher, with a classroom teaching load of at least 0.8 FTTE (Full-time Teaching Equivalent) in a state or state-integrated New Zealand primary school
hold no more than one permanent unit
have at least six years classroom teaching experience in a New Zealand state or state-integrated school (as of December of the year you are applying)
have been at the maximum step of your qualification group for three consecutive years in a New Zealand state or state-integrated school prior to application, with successful attestation against the Experienced Teachers Professional Standards (Schedule 3 of the PTCA or the applicable IEA) in each of those years.

If you hold fixed term units, you are still entitled to receive ACET, as per the PTCA 3.32.4. Your eligibility is only affected if you hold more than one permanent unit.

Any teacher seeking ACET recognition needs their principal to endorse their expression of interest. Your principal must agree that you are ready to apply for ACET recognition on the basis that you meet the eligibility criteria.

If you are successful in applying to receive ACET recognition, your principal will be asked to confirm that you have a classroom teaching load of at least 0.8 FTTE and have successful attestation against the Experienced Teachers Professional Standards for the current school year.

If your hours drop below 0.8FTTE classroom teaching load for more than one term, the allowance will not be paid. You can suspend the allowance for up to 12 months as long as you meet the requirements for suspension. If your hours increase again from 0.5FTTE to 0.8FTTE or more for your classroom teaching load, the allowance can be restarted.

If your ACET recognition gets removed because you do not meet the eligibility criteria, you will need to reapply for it to be reinstated.

Will moving schools affect my ACET eligibility?

If you move schools please contact us so we can update our records, and monitor your payroll to make sure your ACET recognition moves with you to your new school. ACET only exists under the Primary Teachers’ Collective Agreement (PTCA), so if you are employed under the Secondary Teachers' Collective Agreement (STCA) or the Area Schools Teachers' Collective Agreement (ASTCA) you will no longer meet the criteria and the allowance will cease.

If you move to a composite school and are teaching years 1 to 8 only, you can still belong to the PTCA and retain your ACET recognition. If you teach any other year group between 9 and 13, you will belong to the STCA and no longer be eligible to be ACET recognised. Please speak to your school’s payroll if you don’t know which collective agreement you belong to.

Changing position may affect your eligibility

If you take up a position as a Resource Teacher for Learning Behaviours (RTLB), you will no longer meet the eligibility criteria for ACET allowance. You may be able to suspend the allowance and keep your ACET recognition.

Your ACET allowance will stop if you take up another position at your school where you do not meet the eligibility criteria. You may be able to suspend your ACET allowance for up to 12 months if you meet the suspension requirements.

If you are appointed to a Community of Learning within school position, this should not affect your ACET allowance as long as you continue to meet the ACET eligibility criteria.

If you are appointed to a Community of Learning across schools position you will need to relinquish your ACET recognition as you will not meet the ACET eligibility criteria of 0.8FTTE classroom teaching. You can only suspend the ACET allowance for up to 12 months and Community of Learning positions are for a fixed term of 2 years.

Taking leave

If you are currently on or about to go on parental leave, you do not need to suspend your ACET allowance as you will still hold this once you return to work. The ACET allowance will stop while you are on parental leave, because it is paid out as part of the parental (maternity) lump sum grant. Please advise us when you return to your previous position so we can reinstate your allowance.

Your ACET allowance will not be paid if you take leave without pay (LWOP).

Withdrawing from ACET

Please advise us in writing if you wish to relinquish your ACET recognition.

Contact us

If you have any further questions, you can call us during business hours on 0800 165 225 or email us at acet.recognition@education.govt.nz.