NZ Engine – Page 685

December 8, 2025

2026 Delivery Classification Guide changes

Source: Tertiary Education Commission

Last updated 8 December 2025
Last updated 8 December 2025

This page provides a summary of changes to the Delivery Classification Guide (DCG).
This page provides a summary of changes to the Delivery Classification Guide (DCG).

General changes
All of document

Change subject
Notes
Reason

Fund guidance
Expanded guidance on how to apply the DCG for each Fund (YG, DQ1–2, DQ3–7 and DQ7–10).
To provide clarity for users.

All classifications

Change subject
Notes
Reason

Classification headings
Minor updates made to ensure all classification titles align with those referenced in the DQ7–10 funding mechanism.
To align with policy.

Changes to individual classifications
#03: Arts; Advanced Studies for Teachers; Health Therapies; Humanities; Languages; Social Sciences

Change subject
Notes
Reason

Holistic nutrition
Added guidance to clarify that holistic nutrition/health courses should use this classification, unless they meet the criteria to use #18 Science.
To align with policy intent.

#11: Engineering; Technology

Change subject
Notes
Reason

Levels 1–4
Expanded guidance on how to classify engineering and technology courses at Levels 1–4, as they cannot use this classification.
To align with policy intent.

#13.1: Optometry

Change subject
Notes
Reason

New funding category
New funding category added to classification for Budget 2025 targeted funding rate increase.
To align with changes to the 2026 DQ7–10 funding mechanism.

#19.1: Teaching — Early Childhood Education and Kōhanga Reo Kaiako

Change subject
Notes
Reason

Guidance
Guidance updated to acknowledge the proposed Education and Training (System Reform) Amendment Bill changes.
To align with policy intent, if enacted.

#19.2: Teaching — Primary

Change subject
Notes
Reason

Guidance
Guidance updated to acknowledge the proposed Education and Training (System Reform) Amendment Bill changes.
To align with policy intent, if enacted.

#20: Teaching — Secondary and Specialist

Change subject
Notes
Reason

Guidance
Guidance updated to acknowledge the proposed Education and Training (System Reform) Amendment Bill changes.
To align with policy intent, if enacted.

#22: Trades

Change subject
Notes
Reason

Guidance
Description updated to make it clearer what courses this classification can be used for.
To align with policy intent.

Outdoor education, adventure tourism, and outdoor leadership
Added outdoor education, adventure tourism, and outdoor leadership instruction to the types of courses this classification must be used for, if the course does not meet other criteria.
To align with policy intent.

Electrician and electrical trades
Added electrician and electrical trades to the types of courses this classification must be used for, if the course does not meet other criteria.
To provide clarity for users.

#24–#37 Clinical training classifications

Change subject
Notes
Reason

#24–#37 note
Note removed and guidance added under each individual clinical classification.
To provide clarity for users.

Clinical training
Description updated under each clinical classification to make clearer what courses they can be used for.
To align with policy intent.

#25: Medical imaging

Change subject
Notes
Reason

New funding category
New funding category added to classification for Budget 2025 targeted funding rate increase.
To align with changes to the 2026 DQ7–10 funding mechanism.

#27: Midwifery

Change subject
Notes
Reason

Undergraduate
Description updated to specify that this classification should be used for undergraduate programmes that lead to registration.
To align with policy intent.

#31: Pharmacy Professionals

Change subject
Notes
Reason

Undergraduate
Description updated to specify that this classification should be used for undergraduate programmes that lead to registration.
To align with policy intent.

#43: Mathematics

Change subject
Notes
Reason

New classification
New classification, funding category and guidance added for Budget 2025 targeted funding rate increase.
To align with changes to the 2026 DQ7–10 funding mechanism.

Definitions

Change subject
Notes
Reason

Definitions
Updated definitions to reflect the funding conditions and content in the DCG.
To ensure definitions are accurate and relevant.

December 8, 2025

Delivery Classification Guide

Source: Tertiary Education Commission

Last updated 8 December 2025
Last updated 8 December 2025

The Delivery Classification Guide (DCG) helps providers to accurately assign a delivery classification and funding category to each course within a programme or micro-credential they deliver.
The Delivery Classification Guide (DCG) helps providers to accurately assign a delivery classification and funding category to each course within a programme or micro-credential they deliver.

2026 Delivery Classification Guide (PDF 827 KB)
2026 Delivery Classification Guide changes
What are delivery classifications?
Delivery classifications are the coding system we use to group courses by subject matter for funding and reporting purposes. Assigning the right delivery classification ensures accurate funding is calculated.
You must assign a delivery classification to each provider-based course within a programme or micro-credential funded through:

Youth Guarantee (YG)
Delivery at Levels 1 and 2 on the New Zealand Qualifications and Credentials Framework (DQ1-2)
Delivery at Levels 3 to 7 (non-degree) on the New Zealand Qualifications and Credentials Framework and all industry training (DQ3-7) – in relation to provider-based delivery only
Delivery at Levels 7 (degree) to 10 on the New Zealand Qualifications and Credentials Framework (DQ7-10).

The DCG does not apply to work-based delivery. You only need to use this guide for provider-based elements of work-based programmes (ie, off-job block courses).
When should I use the Delivery Classification Guide?
It is a condition of Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) funding that tertiary education organisations (TEOs) assign a delivery classification and related funding category to each provider-based course.
You must use the Delivery Classification Guide when you assign a delivery classification and funding category to each course within a programme or micro-credential that you deliver. This is normally when:

submitting a new course or course change through the Course Register file in DXP Ngā Kete, and
reporting through the Single Data Return (SDR).

Previous DCGs
View DCGs from previous years:
2025 Delivery Classification Guide (PDF 683 KB)
2024 Delivery Classification Guide (PDF 1 MB)
2023 Delivery Classification Guide (PDF 756 KB)
2020 SAC 1-39 Course Classification Guide (PDF 860 KB)

December 8, 2025

Firefighter killed by falling tree during bushfire prevention work in New South Wales

Source: Radio New Zealand

The Bulahdelah fire has burnt through 3,400 hectares of the Myall Lakes National Park. ABC News: Ross McLoughlin

A firefighter from the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) has died after being crushed by a tree during bushfire prevention work north of Newcastle.

The Bulahdelah fire, which has destroyed four homes and is burning on both sides of the Pacific Highway between Crawford River and Nerong, has scorched more than 3,400 hectares of the Myall Lakes National Park.

Emergency service crews were called to a property on Little Nugra Road at Nerong, about 90 kilometres north of Newcastle, at about 10:45pm on Sunday after reports a man had been struck by a tree.

NSW Ambulance paramedics treated him, but he died at the scene.

NSW Premier Chris Minns confirmed the man who died was a NPWS firefighter.

Authorities have established a crime scene and WorkSafe has been notified.

– ABC

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

December 8, 2025

Conjoined twin dies after separation surgery

Source: Radio New Zealand

Papua New Guinea conjoined twins. Audrey Taula / Life Flight and NEST retrieval team

Rare conjoined twins from Papua New Guinea had a seven-hour operation in Australia to surgically separate them on Sunday, but only one of the boys survived.

Tom and Sawong were rushed into emergency surgery at Sydney Children’s Hospital after Tom began to rapidly deteriorate.

The two-month-olds were medivacced from Port Moresby to Sydney on Thursday following medical advice that they undergo surgery as soon as possible.

A spokesperson for the family, Jurgen Ruh, said Sawong was in a stable condition and the parents were grieving the loss of his brother Tom.

“One body with two souls went into the operating theatre, and after seven hours of procedures we had two bodies and two souls,” Ruh said.

“Sadly we lost Tom but are happy to report that we still have two souls and Sawong has survived the operation.”

Ruh previously told RNZ Pacific the boys’ parents had been through a “rollercoaster” of emotions since the twins were born in a remote village in Morobe province on 9 October.

“They have accepted that they will lose Tom (the weaker twin) and there’s been many tears shed along the way,” he said previously.

The twins were fused at the lower abdomen but have their own limbs and genitals, however they share a single liver, bladder and parts of their gastrointestinal tract.

They also had spina bifida – a neural tube defect that affects the development of a newborn’s spine and spinal cord.

Tom had a congenital heart defect, only one kidney and malformed lungs.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

December 8, 2025

The sound effects that make horror films so scary

Source: Radio New Zealand

I was recently watching a scene from the 2025 film Weapons for a monograph I’m writing and noticed a familiar sound: a low, unsettling drone as a character walks down a hallway.

It’s the same kind of sound used in recent horror films such as Together. You can also hear it throughout the trailer forShelby Oaks (2025), where sound throbs like an invisible threat.

We never see what’s making this sound or where it comes from within the film’s world, which only makes it more disturbing.

Stephen Boyd, a young white man with wavy dark hair and a Roman tunic, stars as Messala in the 1959 film Ben-Hur. — In the 1959 film Ben-Hur, when Judah (Charlton Heston) declares to his friend Messala (Stephen Boyd), “I am against you,” a sharp orchestral shock of brass and strings announces their discord.

YouTube screenshot

.goodreads.com/book/show/147158272-the-filmmaker-s-book-of-the-dead?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=oZWLjBB30Z&rank=1″ class=”visited:text-foreground-secondary visited:decoration-stroke-link underline-brand-hover hover:visited:text-foreground-primary”>The Filmmaker’s Guide to Horror, Danny Draven advises aspiring directors that if a terrified character is creeping through, for example, a dingy basement, they can create atmosphere with “a low drone or rumble”, and so on.

“You can be very creative with these situations”, he writes.

This approach is now so embedded in the genre that film scholar William Whittington argues horror uses music and sound effects “far more aggressively and conceptually” than any other genre.

So why do horror films sound like this?

From silence to sound

Horror existed well before synchronised sound arrived in the late 1920s.

Films such as The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920) and Nosferatu (1922), made during the German Expressionist period, unsettled audiences through distorted sets, eerie lighting and stylised acting.

Once Hollywood transitioned to sound, the horror genre as we know it took shape.

Dracula (1930) and Frankenstein (1931) marked the true beginning of modern horror. Both were cheaply made and contained no musical score. They relied entirely on diegetic sound – the creak of a door, a scream, a character’s footsteps.

As sound technology improved and budgets increased, non-diegetic music (sound not originating in the story world) began to be used more often. This introduced an ongoing tension in horror sound: objective realism versus subjective emotional perspective.

Too early!

The origin of horror films is linked to the origin of cinema itself.

According to legend, at the premiere of the Lumière brothers’ 1895 film The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat Station, audiences panicked, ducking and fleeing as the train on screen seemed to surge toward them.

The film isn’t a horror movie, but the reaction resembles the kind of startled fear horror aims to provoke.

Early audiences had not yet learned how to watch films – when the train appeared too suddenly coming at them, their bodies reacted before their minds could catch up.

This “too early” sensation – events occurring before we are ready for them – became a defining feature of horror.

In Cat People (1942), often cited as the first true jump scare, a young woman walks alone at night, hearing what she believes is a stalking presence. When the sound of a bus suddenly hisses into the scene, it startles both her and the audience.

The scare works not because of what we see, but because the sound arrives too soon, breaking the tension in a shock of noise – a modern echo of that onrushing Lumière train.

Film theorist Linda Williams describes horror as structured around the anxiety of not being ready, the problem of things happening “too early”.

Where melodrama deals in tragic lateness – arriving too late to save someone – horror delivers the opposite: the terror of being unprepared.

Music that stings

Sounds that arrive too early are not limited to horror. Classical Hollywood frequently used the “stinger”: a sudden burst of music to underline a dramatic moment.

In Ben-Hur (1959), when Judah declares to Messala, “I am against you,” a sharp orchestral shock of brass and strings announces the rupture between the two friends.

In 1960, Psycho changed the function of the musical stinger forever.

In the famous shower scene, Bernard Herrmann’s shrieking violins don’t highlight a plot point – they stab. The music becomes the attack. Audiences were stunned, not only because of the brutal sound but because the protagonist was killed so early in the film.

From that moment, horror split into classical and modern eras. Stingers in films like Halloween (1978) signal the killer’s sudden, unexpected entry from an offscreen space. The shock is now the point.

By the late 20th century, sound had become horror’s most powerful tool.

The power of the off-screen

After Psycho, stronger sound technology allowed horror to exploit the off-screen space more fully. The boundary between sound and music blurred: a low drone or rumble might be musical, or it might be part of the film world.

Draven gives another tip to aspiring horror filmmakers:

[It is] often what is happening off-screen that can be the scariest – and great, well-planned sound design can take us there.

The first half of Jaws (1975) remains so terrifying because, though we hardly see the shark, its presence is rendered through music – we feel what we cannot locate.

Jump scares increased dramatically in the post-Psycho era.

Paul Schrader’s remake of Cat People in 1982 contains eight jump scares compared to only two in the 1942 original. On the website Where’s The Jump?, the vast majority of films listed in the “High Jump Scare Movies” category are from the 21st century. None were released before the 1980s.

This reflects the “hypersensationalisation” of post-Psycho horror – a genre now driven by sound as much as image.

Contemporary horror still relies on the same principles: anxiety thrives not in what we can see, but in what we can’t.

Low drones, off-screen noises and sudden stingers all work by activating our imagination before we’re ready – inviting us to anticipate the moment when we’ll inevitably think, once again, “Too early!”

Will Jeffery is a Sessional Academic in Film Studies at the University of Sydney.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

December 8, 2025

For better brain health, it’s never too late to get active

Source: Radio New Zealand

Scientists have hailed the benefits of exercising early in life to lower the risk of your brain degenerating later. But new research suggests that even when you’re 45 or older, it’s not too late to try.

Having the highest levels of physical activity in midlife (45 to 64) and late life (65 to 88) was associated with a 41 percent and 45 percent lower risk of dementia, respectively, according to a study published in the journal JAMA Network Open on 19 November.

“This study shifts the conversation from ‘exercise is good for the brain’ to ‘there may be key windows when exercise matters most for brain health,'” says Dr Sanjula Singh, an instructor in neurology at Harvard Medical School.

A grey haired man is helped on an exercise machine. — Strength training a couple of times per week is recommended by the World Health Organisation.

Getty Images / Unsplash +

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With an estimated 57 million people worldwide having dementia and nearly triple that number expected by 2050, the authors “wanted to investigate whether the impact of physical activity on dementia risk differed or stayed consistent across the adult life course,” says Phillip Hwang, lead study author and assistant professor in the department of epidemiology at Boston University School of Public Health.

A downside of this study is that it can’t suggest how much exercise to do due to the measurement the researchers used, Hwang says.

It was “a composite measure based on the number of hours a person spends sleeping, in sedentary behaviour, and doing light, moderate and heavy activities in a day,” he added. “However, finding ways to be more active and moving around is important.”

Hwang’s findings are also affirmed by other studies that suggest more specific guidance.

A 2022 study found that people who walked just 3,800 steps per day lowered their risk of dementia by 25 percent, and, generally, the more steps participants walked, the greater the benefits were. Using a bike instead of a car, bus or train for transportation has been linked with a 19 percent lower risk of dementia and a 22 percent reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

“Given what is already known about the benefits of physical activity on other conditions — such as the heart, mood, stress, etc., which are also related to the brain and cognition — there are lots of other reasons as well to be more active,” Hwang says.

Adults need at least 150 to 300 minutes of moderate aerobic activity or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous aerobic exercise per week, according to the World Health Organisation.

Such exercise could be, for example, 150 minutes of brisk walking, 75 minutes of vigorous running or cycling, and strength training a couple of times per week, Singh says.

She is part of the team that developed the Brain Care Score, a 21-point assessment of how a person fares on physical, lifestyle, social and emotional factors that they can change to protect their brain health.

If you’re new to exercise, begin with slower or shorter workouts, then gradually increase intensity, said Dr Raphael Wald, a neuropsychologist with Marcus Neuroscience Institute at Baptist Health South Florida.

“Starting too aggressively can lead to orthopaedic injuries, which may then limit your ability to exercise at all,” Wald adds.

Build consistent habits that can help ensure you stay active daily, Wald said, such as walking for 20 minutes before work or taking a short movement break during lunch.

Tracking activity and dementia risk

The new study’s findings are based on 1,526 participants in early adult life — ages 26 to 44 — nearly 2,000 middle-aged adults, and nearly 900 (mostly white) older adults who were part of the long-term Framingham Heart Study.

Physical activity levels in early adult life weren’t associated with dementia risk in either direction, the authors found.

They also discovered that even for older adults who had the strongest genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease — the APOE ε4 gene — high physical activity was still linked with a 66 percent lower risk of dementia.

The study has important limitations, according to the experts.

“People who are more active may also engage in other healthy behaviours, have better baseline health, or differ in ways the researchers couldn’t fully measure,” Singh says.

The team acknowledged that it didn’t have details on middle- and older-age adults’ physical activity levels in their early adult lives or how habits changed over time, which could also influence risk for dementia.

Participants may also misjudge their levels, so studies with tracker wearables would be a more objective way to measure exercise, Singh said.

Midlife and late life, possibly being extra critical for brain health, may be explained by a few factors, according to the experts.

“Exercise plays a major role in maintaining vascular health,” Wald says.

“The most common vascular risk factors — high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, thyroid disease and high cholesterol — tend to emerge in midlife and later adulthood. It makes sense that exercise during these periods would have the greatest impact on reducing dementia risk.”

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

December 8, 2025

Ukraine peace talks in Miami end with lingering questions over security guarantees and territory

Source: Radio New Zealand

By Max Saltman, Jennifer Hansler and Billy Stockwell, CNN

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky attends a joint press conference with Turkey’s President following their meeting at the Presidential Complex in Ankara on November 19, 2025 AFP

Talks between US and Ukrainian negotiators over a proposed peace deal with Russia ended in Miami this weekend, with few new developments and lingering questions over security guarantees and territorial issues, according to Ukrainian officials.

As the talks concluded, the Kremlin welcomed US President Donald Trump’s new security strategy, saying it dropped the language of past US administrations describing Russia as a threat.

The marathon Miami meeting began on Thursday between US special envoy Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and Ukrainian officials Rustem Umerov and Andriy Hnatov.

After three days of talks, “difficult issues remain,” Ukrainian Ambassador to the US Olga Stefanishyna said Saturday, “but both sides continue working to shape realistic and acceptable solutions.”

“The main challenges at this stage concern questions of territory and guarantees, and we are actively seeking optimal formats for addressing them,” Stefanishyna said. “More details will be provided once all information is compiled.”

Territory and security guarantees are long-standing sticking points for any possible deal. Ukraine maintains that a just end to the war would include reliable security guarantees and would not force it to surrender more territory to Russia.

As the meetings kicked off earlier this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters in India that his country intends to seize Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region by any means.

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin, accompanied by Kremlin economic envoy Kirill Dmitriev and Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov, meets with US special envoy Steve Witkoff and US President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner at the Kremlin in Moscow on December 2, 2025. (Photo by Alexander KAZAKOV / POOL / AFP)

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, accompanied by economic envoy Kirill Dmitriev and aide Yuri Ushakov, meets with US special envoy Steve Witkoff and US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner at the Kremlin on December 2, 2025 AFP

The Miami talks had been preceded by a visit to Moscow by Kushner and Witkoff. Trump said Wednesday the US delegation had a “very good meeting” with Putin, and that they believed the Russian president “would like to see the war ended” – though the talks failed to yield a breakthrough.

In a social media post on Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that he had a “long” and “constructive” phone conversation with Witkoff and Kushner, as well as his Ukrainian delegation in Miami.

“We covered many aspects and went through key points that could ensure an end to the bloodshed and eliminate the threat of a new Russian full-scale invasion,” Zelensky said. “We agreed on the next steps and formats for talks with the United States.”

Also discussed on the call was “the risk of Russia failing to honour its promises, as has happened repeatedly in the past,” he said.

Zelensky said that Hnatov and Umerov are expected to deliver him a “detailed in person report” on the negotiations.

“Not everything can be discussed over the phone,” Zelensky said. “So we need to work closely with our teams on ideas and proposals.”

Peace and its conditions will also be the subject of a meeting on Monday between Zelensky and French, British and German leaders in London.

The discussion will cover “the situation and the ongoing negotiations within the framework of the American mediation,” French President Emmanuel Macron said Saturday.

Kremlin welcomes removal of ‘threat’ label

Separately, the Kremlin has welcomed the new US national security strategy, released on Friday, which sets out the Trump administration’s realignment of US foreign policy and takes an an unprecedentedly confrontational posture toward Europe.

Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Trump administration’s document has dropped language describing Russia as a threat, state-owned news agency TASS reported.

“We considered this a positive step,” Peskov told the news agency.

“Overall, these messages are certainly in contrast with approaches of previous administrations.”

The strategy document says European nations regard Russia as “an existential threat,” but paints the US as having a significant role in diplomacy to re-establish “conditions of stability within Europe and strategic stability with Russia.”

A 2022 Biden-era national security strategy said Russia posed “an immediate threat to the free and open international system, recklessly flouting the basic laws of the international order today, as its brutal war of aggression against Ukraine has shown.”

The Trump administration’s new document also reiterates its push for “ending the perception, and preventing the reality, of NATO as a perpetually expanding alliance.”

-CNN

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

December 8, 2025

Financial struggles see Wellington Rugby sell Hurricanes stake

Source: Radio New Zealand

Cam Roigard of the Hurricanes. Elias Rodriguez / www.photosport.nz

The Hurricanes will start the 2026 Super Rugby Pacific season with a new ownership structure as the Wellington Rugby Football Union (WRFU) sells its 50 percent stake.

The WRFU’s sale of their shares in the Hurricanes is part of securing the financial sustainability of the Wellington Union, which has posted $1m-plus losses in the past two seasons.

NZ Sport Investment Limited (NZSI) has acquired WRFU’s 50 percent shareholding, with the support of New Zealand Rugby and the other existing shareholders.

WRFU Chair Phil Holden said selling its shares in the Hurricanes was necessary to recapitalise the union.

NZSI is a joint venture between Malcolm Gillies and Summit Capital Limited. Gillies is principal of Gillies Group and is part owner of NZCIS, and the current training and operational base of the Hurricanes.

Gillies will become chair of the Hurricanes. John Mallon, director of Summit Capital, has also joined the Board, along with Peter Thomas, chief executive of Gillies Group Facilities Management.

New Zealand Rugby (NZR) will become a minority investor in the Hurricanes as part of a re-financing package of both the Hurricanes and WRFU.

“The professional rugby environment and the economic climate generally, remains challenging and the Hurricanes have not been immune”, said outgoing Hurricanes chair, Iain Potter.

“The last few years have been difficult for the Hurricanes financially, with operating losses up to and including the last financial year, where we are likely to post a loss of $2 million.”

Gillies said NZSI was committed to ensuring the Hurricanes and Poua remain highly competitive but work also needed to be done to improve the financial performance of the organisation.

Tony Philp, the outgoing general manager of the Hurricanes, has been appointed as interim Hurricanes chief executive.

NZR chair David Kirk said the national body was providing temporary financial support as it had done before with other provincial unions and Super Rugby clubs.

“…In the form of loan facilities on acceptable terms and a capital injection we expect to recover, to help both organisations get on a firm financial footing again. This is backed up with governance arrangements to support both organisations in their financial recovery,” Kirk said.

Holden said the Union had appreciated the support of NZR over the last few months.

The WFRU would retain a seat on the Hurricanes board, to ensure strategic alignment between the two bodies.

NZR will appoint board members to both the Hurricanes and the WRFU.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

December 8, 2025

Running prodigy Sam Ruthe explains how he smashed the 1500m school record

Source: Radio New Zealand

Running prodigy Sam Ruthe is having a record-breaking year. Andrew Cornaga/www.photosport.nz

The ease at which running prodigy Sam Ruthe smashed the long-standing secondary schools 1500 metre record took the 16-year-old by surprise.

The Tauranga Boys’ College student shattered the record, held by Commonwealth Games runner Richard Potts since 1989, by eight seconds on Saturday at the New Zealand Secondary Schools Track and Field Championship in Hastings.

“I was really, really surprised because I thought I was just going to beat it by a couple of seconds, like two seconds or something,” he told Checkpoint on Monday.

“I was just like, I’ll head out a bit fast and get some extra room just in case I don’t feel too good towards the last couple of laps, and I just kept going because I felt so good.”

Ruthe was 200m ahead of the rest of the field when he crossed the finish line, almost 30 seconds in front, when he crossed in a time of 3m 38.62s in his heat at the championships.

The teenager said the plan with his coach had always been “go for it straight from the gun” as they had Potts’ record in their sights.

“And then that race just felt so good I decided to do the same for the 800m the next day, and that have gone much better],” Ruthe said of his record-breaking weekend.

Potts was in Hastings to watch as his 1500m record got broken.

“I did get the lucky opportunity to meet him, he was a great guy and it was really cool to share that moment with him.

“We just had a couple of laughs, it was all light-hearted.”

Following up his 1500m success with another record in the 800m on Sunday was not always a given for Ruthe.

“I can never tell just because I’m pumping with adrenaline all the time the night before, so I never get that much sleep, so it’s always hard to tell – but my legs must not have felt that bad because otherwise I don’t think I would have had a crack at that 800m like I did.”

Ruthe said “not much” was going through his head when he was out on the track.

“I don’t think about much at all to be honest – it’s just all empty brain.”

How did he celebrate breaking a 36-year-old record? By doing “absolutely nothing”.

“I had a four-hour drive back to Tauranga straight after my race.”

What celebratory treat would he like?

“Some nice Nike supplies were meant to get here today but the delivery van delivered it to the wrong place, so that would have been quite nice, but unfortunately that didn’t turn up today.”

Ruthe has had a run of record-breaking results this year after in March, aged 15 years, 11 months and 7 days, he became the youngest person to run a sub-four-minute mile.

Next up, Ruthe will travel to New York early next year to compete in a couple of indoor races.

“Hopefully run under 3m 38s for the 1500m, which is probably a second faster than what I ran [on Saturday], and that will be the fastest ever time for a 16-year-old over 1500m, which I’d definitely like to tick off.

“To me that’s not my main goal – it’s just another step in the right direction of following [Australian Olympian] Cam Myers’ footsteps… just trying to tick off these times both [Myers and world record holder Jakob Ingebrigtsen] had hit at my age is just showing me that I’m always heading one step extra in the right direction.”

Ruthe said his love of running was what drove him when others might be spending the summer relaxing.

“I’m not going to lie, I do have a good time. I do spend a lot of time with mates and stuff, so life’s not too bad at the moment.”

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

December 8, 2025

Government still has the numbers to stay in power in new poll

Source: Radio New Zealand

Christopher Luxon remains ahead as preferred Prime Minister on 23 percent, while Chris Hipkins is on 21 percent. RNZ

The government would still have the numbers to stay in power, according to the latest 1News Verian poll.

After three 1News polls in a row on 34 percent, National is up two points to 36 percent.

ACT is up two points to 10 percent, while New Zealand First is steady on nine percent.

Looking at the opposition, Labour is up three points to 35 percent, but the Greens have had a four point drop to seven percent. Te Pāti Māori is on one percent.

Translated into seats in the House, National would have 44, Labour 43, ACT 12, New Zealand First 11, the Greens nine, and Te Pāti Māori six.

The poll assumes Te Pāti Māori would keep its six electorate seats, despite the recent changes to its membership.

It means the coalition bloc would have 67, while the current opposition would have 58.

Christopher Luxon remains ahead as preferred Prime Minister on 23 percent, while Chris Hipkins is on 21 percent. Winston Peters is on nine percent, David Seymour is on five percent, and Chlöe Swarbrick is also on five percent. Chris Bishop enters the poll, on two percent.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand