Voluntary Bonding Scheme

The Voluntary Bonding Scheme (VBS) was introduced in 2009 to encourage newly graduated teachers to teach in certain areas of need. There are two types of Voluntary Bonding Schemes. Depending on your teaching service, you may be eligible for multiple payments through the ongoing scheme or a one-off payment through the expansion scheme.

The VBS is closed to new applicants as of 5 October 2025. Teachers who are eligible for the VBS can still apply for payments if they were employed in an eligible school before 5 October 2025. Teachers who started teaching after this date are not eligible.

All teachers currently participating in the Voluntary Bonding Scheme can continue to apply for and receive payments provided they continue to meet all existing criteria, as outlined in the Voluntary Bonding Application guide.

Eligibility

Ongoing scheme

You are eligible for this scheme if you meet all the following criteria:

• are a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident
• completed your teaching qualification in New Zealand
• began teaching in an eligible school and received provisional registration within 12 months of completing your qualification*
• were teaching in an eligible school in a position that was at least 0.5 of a full-time teacher equivalent (FTTE)
• have continued to teach in an eligible school for at least three years and were employed before 5 October 2025.

*This is based on the date of your statement of completion of studies, for a course that qualifies you to receive provisional registration with the Teaching Council for the first time. 
Schools participating in the VBS are included in the Voluntary Bonding Scheme’s Eligible Schools List.

Expansion scheme (from 2018)

You are eligible for the expansion scheme's one-off payment if you meet all the following criteria:

• are teaching in:
  • a decile 2 or 3 school in the Auckland region only, or 
  • Māori medium settings nation-wide, or 
  • a defined subject Technology (Textiles, Materials Technology, Digital Technology, Computer Science), Mathematics (Mathematics, Statistics, Calculus) or Te Reo Māori
• are a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident 
• completed your teaching qualification in New Zealand 
  began teaching in an eligible school and received provisional registration within 12 months of completing your qualification* 
• were teaching in an eligible school in a position that was at least 0.5 of a full-time teacher equivalent (FTTE)
• have continued to teach in an eligible school for at least three years and were employed before 5 October 2025

* This is based on the date of your statement of completion of studies, for a course that qualifies you to receive provisional registration with the Teaching Council for the first time.

Schools participating in the VBS are included in the Voluntary Bonding Scheme’s Eligible Schools List.

Payments

To receive payments for VBS, you must have continued to teach in an eligible school for at least three years.

Ongoing Scheme participants can apply for payments within the 12 months after completing your 3rd, 4th or 5th consecutive year of teaching in that school or kura. Expansion Scheme participants can apply for payments within the 6 months after completing your 3rd, 4th or 5th consecutive year of teaching in that school or kura.

The Voluntary Bonding Scheme Expansion is a one-off payment. More details can be found in the Voluntary Bonding Scheme guide.

Please note you only need to supply your citizen or resident details and statement of completion with your first payment application. You do not need to resubmit them for the second and third payment applications. 
If you are bonded because you received a TeachNZ scholarship, you won’t qualify for Voluntary Bonding Scheme payments until you’ve completed your scholarship bonding period.

Payments are subject to income tax, an ACC earners levy, and may have an impact on their income tax obligations, Working for Families payments, and child support payments, etc.
We suggest participants seek independent tax advice on how scheme payments may affect their tax position. For further tax information, contact Inland Revenue on 0800 775 247 or visit the IRD website. More details can be found in the Voluntary Bonding Scheme guide.

A teacher who has previously received Voluntary Bonding Scheme (VBS) payments may be appointed to an eligible role for the Teacher Bonding Scheme (TBS). Teachers must choose between VBS and TBS. They cannot receive both payments at the same time.

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