Secondary School Teacher in NZ: Green List Tier 1 and STCA Pay

Same profession, different treatment: early childhood teachers sit on Green List Tier 2 (24 months of work first), while secondary school teachers (ANZSCO 241411) are Tier 1: Teaching Council registration plus an offer from an accredited school, and you can apply for Straight to Residence directly. For applicants with a subject background (maths, sciences, English, languages), this is the fastest education pathway.

Green List position and visa pathway

Under the 9 March 2026 version of INZ’s Appendix 13, the requirement for secondary teachers is:

• registration with the Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand, holding a provisional or full practising certificate
• a job or offer in a secondary teaching role with an accredited employer (almost all state schools are)
• pay at or above any specified rate: none is set for this occupation, so the median wage line ($35.00/hour) applies; see the maths below
• 55 or younger, meeting health, character and English requirements

You can apply from overseas. See the Green List tiers guide and, for the ECE contrast, the ECE teacher guide.

Teaching Council registration

Same regulator and same rules as for ECE teachers (full detail in the ECE guide’s registration section):

• Registration and a practising certificate are both required; beginning teachers start on a Tōmua | Provisional certificate
• Overseas-trained teachers: a Teaching IQA from NZQA (unless your qualification is pre-approved) → English competency evidence (e.g. IELTS; combined sittings accepted, results within two years) → online application for registration + certificate, about 6–12 weeks; applications with a school offer are prioritised
• Expect to document your home-country teaching status, teaching service and practicum

Study pathway: your subject background is the real gate

The decisive requirement for secondary ITE programmes is not the education papers: it is whether your bachelor’s degree contains enough subject-content papers:

• To teach maths you need sufficient tertiary mathematics papers; to teach physics, physics papers: providers assess case by case
• Graduate Diploma in Teaching (Secondary): one year: the main route for degree holders
• Master of Teaching and Learning (Secondary): 1–1.5 years
• Providers include the Universities of Auckland, Canterbury, Otago, Waikato and Victoria University of Wellington: always check the Teaching Council’s approved programme list

STEM teachers (maths, physics, chemistry) are in the deepest shortage: Green List inclusion is itself the official recognition. Language-subject roles (including Chinese) are far fewer; weigh your subject well before comparing university rankings.

Pay: the STCA unified base scale

State secondary teachers are paid on the Secondary Teachers’ Collective Agreement (STCA) unified base salary scale: a new agreement was signed on 4 December 2025 (rates from 28 January 2026):

Step	Annual salary (approx.)
Step 1 (trained teacher entry)	$62,862
Step 5	$75,340
Step 8	$90,960
Step 10 (top)	≈ $105,700

• Normal progression is one step per year; the top two steps rise a further 2.1% in January 2027
• The Public Service Commission confirms 80% of trained secondary teachers earn a base salary above $100,000 from 28 January 2026
• Additional allowances for responsibility: units at $5,500 each, middle/senior management allowances at $2,400

The median wage maths (new teachers, read this)

Tier 1 occupations without a specified rate must be paid at least the median wage ($35.00/hour ≈ $72,800/year) when applying. Against the scale:

• Step 1 at $62,862 ≈ $30.22/hour: below the line
• At one step per year, you cross $72,800/year around steps 4–5

The practical meaning: a new graduate teacher usually cannot meet the Green List pay requirement immediately: expect several years in the classroom (or responsibility allowances) before lodging Straight to Residence. The state scale is at least transparent and predictable, but “registration + offer = apply now” is still a myth.

Where the jobs are

• Education Gazette: the official vacancy platform for state schools: most secondary roles appear here
• Seek and similar boards as a supplement; independent (private) schools often recruit directly
• Hiring follows the school year (Term 1 starts late January); from overseas, start the NZQA assessment at least six months ahead

Common misconceptions

• “Teachers must work 24 months first, like ECE”: wrong: secondary is Tier 1 with no 24-month rule. But watch the pay line (above)
• “A teaching licence from home lets me teach in NZ”: wrong: you need the full set: NZQA assessment + Teaching Council registration + practising certificate
• “Any degree can convert into secondary teaching”: wrong: without enough subject papers in your degree, a Graduate Diploma (Secondary) will not admit you
• “Teacher pay is non-negotiable”: the state scale is fixed, but responsibility units carry extra allowances, and your entry step can be assessed higher with recognised prior teaching service: document your overseas experience and ask

Next steps: check the exact wording for ANZSCO 241411 in the Green List Checker, run the steps through the take-home pay calculator, and compare the qualification-points route in the SMC calculator.