Education Minister Chris Hipkins has advised children up to year 10 of essential workers will be able to return next Tuesday April 29.
However he is encouraging parents to keep their children home if they can.
Students years 11-13 and tertiary students will continue distance learning until level 2.
Hipkins said students needed to ''preserve their mental health'' in the lead-up to important exams and that the NZ Qualifications Authority (NZQA) was working faster to ensure assessments could take place online.
However, he did not believe that would impact the outcome of the exams.
"If we look to the Christchurch earthquake scenario they missed out on a chunk of learning however it did not translate into lower NCEA grades - if anything they were slightly higher," said Hipkins.
The Government yesterday revealed New Zealand would come out of level 4 at 11:59pm next Monday April 27, and remain at level 3 for two weeks.
"The Director General is confident there is no widespread community transmission so the chance of it coming through school gates is low," Hipkins said.
He recommended that teachers in a higher risk category should support distance learning while lower risk teachers could physically be at the school.
Around 80,000 homes have been connected to broadband since the start of level 4, plus 80,000 packs in English have been sent out, as well as 10,000 packs in Te reo Maori.