School leavers with NCEA Level 1 or above

What We Have Found

In 2011, eighty-four percent of school leavers achieved at least NCEA Level 1, and eighty-seven percent achieved NCEA Level 1 literacy and numeracy.

Date Updated: September 2012

Indicator Description

Percentage of school leavers with an NCEA Level 1 qualification or above.

Why This Is Important

A formal school qualification is a measure of the extent to which young adults have completed a basic prerequisite for higher education and training and many entry-level jobs.  In 2002 the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) Level 1 replaced School Certificate as the principal qualification to complete the first stage of upper-secondary education, and serves as a foundation for further study and/or employment.  NCEA Level 1, as with all levels of NCEA, encompasses a wide range of learning.  Students can attain credits through internal and external assessment, and they can accumulate these credits both within and across years.  Students are also able to undertake study at other NCEA levels to attain credits while studying for an NCEA Level 1 qualification.

The attainment of an upper secondary school qualification is linked to labour force status and incomes.  In 2009 New Zealanders with no qualifications had an unemployment rate over 51% higher than those whose highest qualification was a school qualification (OECD 2011).

How We Are Going

NCEA Level 1 or Above

New Zealand schools are now using a new method of electronic student roll collection.  This has enabled the collection of disaggregated school leaver data from 2008.  For the 2011 school leaver indicators, this has allowed the identification of school leavers not identified previous to 2010 and for ethnic group analysis to take account of all the ethnic groups a student belongs to.

When accounting for these new inclusions, in 2011, 83.8% of all school leavers attained at least NCEA Level 1.  Female school leavers (85.9%) achieved at a higher rate than their male counterparts (81.9%).

 
Figure 1: Percentage of school leavers with NCEA Level 1 or above, by total response ethnic group (2011)
Note:

1. For this graph students who identified in more than one ethnic group have been counted in each ethnic group.

When accounting for these new inclusions and looking at total response ethnic group, in 2011, Asian students had the highest proportion of school leavers attaining at least NCEA Level 1 (91.8%), which was 4% higher than the percentage of European/Pākehā (88.1%).  Pasifika (78.2%) and Māori (68.6%) had the lowest rates.


Figure 2:  Percentage of school leavers which an NCEA Level 1 qualification or above, by ethnic group (2002 to 2011)

Notes:

1. Due to methodological changes in the allocation of attainment levels in 2003 and 2004, for leavers achieving a qualification between little or no formal attainment and UE standard, the percentages of leavers with at least NCEA Level 1 in both 2003 and 2004 are not comparable with other years, and have been omitted.
2. In order to allow a comparison over time this indicator uses the original definition that was used for the paper-based collection of data for 2003 to 2008, adjusted by the new definition 2009 numbers with prioritised ethnicity.  The 2009 to 2011 rates are from actual new definition numbers.

For a trend comparison of recent years the school leavers for 2002 to 2008 needs to be adjusted using 2009 numbers to allow a fair comparison with 2009 to 2011.  Since 2002, there has been a proportional increase of 34% with respect to those who attain at least NCEA Level 1, with 83.8% in 2011 compared to 62.5% in 2002.

Looking at the ethnic group trends the largest proportional increases in those attaining at least NCEA Level 1 has been in Māori school leavers, with an increase of 80% between 2002 (38.1%) and 2011 (68.6%), and Pasifika school leavers, with an increase of 49% between 2002 (52.6%) and 2011 (78.2%).  This can be compared to the European/Pākehā school leavers, who had a smaller proportional increase of 29% between 2002 (68.1%) and 2011 (88.1%).  This shows that for this measure the disparities between the different ethnic groups are reducing.


Figure 3: Percentage of school leavers with NCEA Level 1 and above, by school decile and school (2011)

A clear positive correlation can be seen between the socio-economic mix of the school the student attended and the percentage of school leavers attaining at least an NCEA Level 1 qualification.  Schools in the lowest deciles (deciles 1 and 2) draw their students from communities with the highest degree of socio-economic disadvantage.

In 2011, 94.9% of students from schools in the highest deciles (deciles 9 and 10) left school with at least an NCEA Level 1 qualification.  This was 29% higher than the lowest two deciles (73.6%). 

There is a large variation in the percentage of school leavers attaining at least an NCEA Level 1 amongst schools within each decile.

NCEA Level 1 literacy and numeracy

In 2011, 87.2% of all school leavers achieved NCEA Level 1 literacy and numeracy.  Female school leavers (89.1%) achieved at a higher rate than their male counterparts (85.3%). 

Asian students had the highest proportion of school leavers achieving NCEA Level 1 literacy and numeracy with 93.0% in 2011, which was 2% higher than the
percentage of European/Pākehā (90.8%).  Pasifika (82.2%) and Māori (75.0%) had the lowest rates.

A clear positive correlation can be seen between the socio-economic mix of the school the student attended and the percentage of school leavers achieving NCEA Level 1 literacy and numeracy.  In 2011, 96.0 % of students from schools in deciles 9 and 10 left school achieving NCEA Level 1 literacy and numeracy.  This was 22% higher than deciles 1 and 2 (79.0%).
 
There is a large variation in the percentage of school leavers achieving NCEA Level 1 literacy and numeracy amongst schools within each decile.


Figure 4: Percentage of school leavers with NCEA Level 1 literacy and numeracy, by ethnic group (2011)
Note:

1. For this graph students who identified in more than one ethnic group have been counted in each ethnic group

References

• Alton-Lee, A. (2003). Quality Teaching for Diverse Students in Schooling: Best Evidence Synthesis. Wellington: Ministry of Education.
• Anthony, G., and Walshaw, M. (2007). Effective Pedagogy in Mathematics/Pāngarau: Best Evidence Synthesis Iteration. Wellington: Ministry of Education.
• OECD (2010). Education at a Glance 2010: OECD Indicators. Paris: OECD.