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Check out the students looking for host families in 2026!
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AFS has been providing Kiwis with extraordinary intercultural learning opportunities for more than 75 years. We have the tools to help you live your dreams.
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Expand your horizons & dive in to a new adventure
AFS Aotearoa Scholarships | Ngā Karahipi Kaitiaki o Te Ao
Intercultural exchange programmes should be accessible for all students in Aotearoa New Zealand. With support from the AFS Educational Trust, AFS New Zealand provides a range of grants and scholarships for students from all walks of life.
"One of the best decisions of my life"
It’s a pretty special feeling to be able to converse in an entirely different language, and to see my grasp of the language improve from very basic sentences and words, to the ability to have full in-depth conversations as I’ve progressed. I’ve also made some great friends over here, and had some amazing new experiences that never would have been possible had I forgone this opportunity. I really can’t express how valuable that is, the vast range of things I’ve done, seen, or tried, things that, to me, are different in ways I never conceived of.
— Callum, exchange student from New Zealand to Uruguay
News & Blog
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A Different AFS Experience: Lucas’ Time at a Uniquely Danish Efterskole (Boarding School)
A Danish Efterskole is a school like no other! Danes say that one Efterskole year is equal to 7 regular years, because you grow so much as a person. AFS… -
AFS Youth Assembly 2025: One Global Event, Two Unique NZ Volunteer Experiences
In August 2025, more than 500 rangatahi from over 80 countries gathered in New York. Under the banner of ‘Defying Adversity: Empowering Young Global Citizens to Lead’ they engaged in… -
Discovering Ourselves
Written by Rachel Lilburn: The world has changed a lot since the first AFS student exchanges in 1947. It’s changed a lot since I spent a year in Sucre, Bolivia,…
Let AFS guide your intercultural adventure
With over 75 years of experience in student exchanges, we know what we’re doing when it comes to support and education! AFS provides comprehensive orientation for all students and families before, during and after your exchange – AFS volunteers and staff will be there to support and guide you the whole way through. In-person orientation camps in New Zealand and your host country are supplemented by our world-leading online Student Learning Journey, an interactive course that brings AFSers from around the world together to develop essential global skills, learn intercultural communication techniques, and practice social impact. This journey will help you maximise your experience, cope with the challenges of navigating a new culture and community, and gain knowledge, skills, and a global understanding throughout your time abroad and as you return to your home country. Find out more about our educational expertise here!