The invention discloses a method for leaching niobium, scandium and rare earth elements from tailings and relates to the technical field of hydrometallurgy. The method comprises the following steps: S1, adding calcium hydroxide and sodium chloride into iron ore dressing, rare earth and fluorite tailings, uniformly mixing to obtain a mixture, and roasting the mixture to obtain roasted ore; S2, performing ball-milling treatment on the roasted ore; S3, mixing the roasted ore subjected to ball-milling treatment with hydrochloric acid, heating for leaching, and filtering an extract to obtain a leaching residue I and a leaching liquor I rich in rare earth and scandium; and S4, drying the leaching residue I, leaching the leaching residue I by adoption of a concentrated sulfuric acid heating leaching method, and filtering an extract to obtain a leaching residue II and a leaching liquor II rich in niobium. The method is simple to operate, low in energy consumption, green and environmentally friendly, and low in process cost, can effectively leach niobium, scandium and rear earth in the iron ore dressing, rare earth and fluorite tailings, and is high in leaching rate of niobium, scandium and rear earth.