Is agriculture growing as a school subject?

At the senior end, it is. NZQA figures show 1,134 students were assessed in Level 3 Agricultural and Horticultural Science in 2025, up from 843 in 2018. That’s a rise of about 35%.

Level 2 grew too, from 1,865 students in 2018 to 2,303 in 2025. Level 1 is the exception. After three years above 5,000 students, it fell to 3,100 in 2024 and sat at 3,659 in 2025.

Agribusiness has grown faster still. NZQA counted 173 students assessed in Level 2 Agribusiness in 2017, at 12 providers. By 2025 it was 2,585 students at 99 providers.

Where the subject sits in the new curriculum

The Ministry of Education had proposed developing agriculture and horticulture as industry-led subjects. In September 2025 it changed that advice after strong feedback from schools, industry and communities, Local Democracy Reporting said at the time. The Ministry said the subject’s specialist scientific nature meant other science subjects, or a primary industries subject, wouldn’t cover it adequately.

The draft curriculum now on Tāhūrangi lists Agricultural and Horticultural Science as a Year 12 and Year 13 subject in the Science group, alongside biology, chemistry, Earth and space science, and physics. At Year 11 the page lists a single Science subject, and the Ministry describes Years 11 to 13 Science as covering agriculture and horticulture alongside the other sciences. The new content is planned to be required in Year 11 from 2028, Year 12 from 2029 and Year 13 from 2030.

Agribusiness stays inside business studies at Years 12 and 13, the Ministry said.

A second route through Food and Fibre Systems

Food and Fibre Systems is one of nine industry-led subjects approved for development, which the Ministry announced in August 2026. Industry Skills Boards will lead the work, with education experts alongside.

The Ministry says students will learn how food and fibre industries use, manage and care for natural resources. The subject covers production and processing, supply chains, sustainability and technological change. It spans animal farming, arable, dairy, horticulture, forestry and seafood, as well as support industries such as irrigation and fencing.

Year 12 students will be able to take it from 2029 as part of the New Zealand Certificate of Education, and Year 13 students from 2030 under the New Zealand Advanced Certificate of Education. That gives agriculture up to three homes in the senior timetable, in science, in Food and Fibre Systems and in business studies.

The jobs at the other end

The Ministry for Primary Industries says the food and fibre sector employed more than 360,000 people in 2023, about 1 in 7 people in the New Zealand workforce. That includes 173,000 people in core production and 88,000 in processing and manufacturing.

MPI expects those jobs to keep getting more specialised, driven by new technology, a growing market in Asia, and issues such as food safety, biosecurity, sustainability and animal welfare. It also publishes teacher resources on the primary industries for maths, science, social studies and technology classes.

For school leavers heading straight into the sector, Growing Future Farmers works with young people and farmers to help them into primary sector careers. Its mid-year report said about 400 young people had been supported through the programme since 2020, with an average graduate employment rate of 96%.

For Food and Fibre Systems, the next step is public consultation. Industry Skills Boards will develop the subject through 2026 and 2027, with assessment design in 2027 and piloting in 2028.