Education expectancy

Indicator Description

Average years in education.

What We Have Found

New Zealanders spend an average of 19.4 years in education, including 4.1 years in tertiary education

Why This Is Important

Participation in education provides opportunities to learn and raise educational achievement.  'Education expectancy' shows the average amount of time spent in education by the population, as a measure of how much education New Zealanders are likely to receive over their lifetime, for each level of education.

Longer participation is generally associated with higher levels of skills and knowledge, and improved outcomes for individuals as well as for society.

Trends in expected quantity of education provide information, alongside trends in tertiary participation and completion rates, about wider changes in the environment in terms of the demand for higher levels of education.

How We Are Going

The OECD’s measure of expected years of education excludes children under five years, so as to ensure robust international comparisons.

Across 27 OECD countries, based on 2005 data, individuals participate in formal education for between 12.2 and 20.9 years on average over their lifetime, with an OECD country mean of 17.7 years.  Overall, New Zealanders have the 7th highest expected number of years in education on average, at 19.4 years, an increase of 2.2 years from 1999.  New Zealanders spend more years in education than the United States and Ireland, but spend 1.5 years less than Australia and the United Kingdom, though this difference is due entirely to the rate of part-time study in New Zealand.  Australia and the United Kingdom have the highest expected number of years in education in the OECD.

Most of the variation between countries comes from differences in enrolment at upper secondary level.  New Zealanders are expected to spend 4.4 years in upper secondary education on average, an increase of 0.6 years from 1999, and 8th highest out of the OECD countries.  This compares with an OECD country mean of 3.8 years, 4.3 years of upper secondary education in Australia and 2.7 years in the United States.

Expected years in upper secondary and tertiary education (2005)

New Zealand’s overall average is strengthened by the relatively high participation in tertiary education.  On average New Zealanders spend 4.1 years in tertiary education, compared to the average in OECD countries of 3.1 years.  This ranks New Zealand 5th highest out of OECD countries.  This measure is influenced by both the entry and participation rates in tertiary education and the typical duration of study.  The rising average age of New Zealand’s tertiary population also suggests that more people are spreading their total education over a longer time span, as well as doing more study on a part-time basis.

Expected years in all levels of education, by gender (2005)

In the majority of countries females can expect to spend more time in education than males.  In New Zealand, females can expect to spend an additional 1.8 years in education overall, the 4th highest gender differential amongst OECD countries.

Where To Find Out More

The following selected indicators also provide information on participation in education:

• Retention of students in senior secondary schools
• Participation rates in tertiary education
• Tertiary student retention
• Education attainment in the adult population.

References

• OECD (2007). Education at a Glance: OECD indicators 2007.  Paris, OECD.
• Ministry of Education (2006). Tertiary Education Strategy 2002/07: Monitoring Report 2005. Wellington, Ministry of Education.