Education Statistics of New Zealand 2005

Introduction

The main source of information for the tables is a census of educational institutions carried out during July 2005. The data contained in this volume reflects a snapshot of education in New Zealand and therefore does not give cumulative enrolments over an entire year.

In this publication the ethnicity of students at the pre-school level is normally identified by a parent or guardian. Ethnicity of students at school level is either self-identified or identified by a parent or guardian. Students at tertiary level usually self-identify their ethnic group or groups.

A glossary that defines other educational classifications and terms used in this publication can be found at the bottom of this page.

Unless otherwise stated, data in this publication was collected by the Data Management Unit of the Ministry of Education.

General

At 1 July 2005 , there were 1,305,599 students attending educational institutions (or receiving homeschooling) throughout New Zealand . This is a decrease in student numbers of 1.4 percent since 1 July 2004 . It is estimated that these students represented 31.9 percent of the total New Zealand population.

At 1 July 2005 , there were 7,556 educational institutions. Of these, 4,435 were early childhood institutions (excluding the Correspondence School), 2,607 were schools, 33 were public tertiary education providers and 480 were private tertiary education providers (this includes only those providers that had students in formal programmes of study at July).

There are a number of educational institutions that provide education specifically for Māori and Pasifika students. Examples are kōhanga reo, ngā puna kōhungahunga and Pasifika early childhood groups for pre-schoolers, kura kaupapa Māori for school-aged students, and wānanga for post-secondary education.

20.2 percent (262,861) of students attending educational institutions (excluding homeschooled students) at July 2005 identified themselves as Māori, while 7.3 percent (95,480) identified themselves as Pasifika.

There were 48,071 international students attending New Zealand schools and tertiary institutions at July 2005. This is a decrease of 10.2 percent since 1 July 2004.

Early Childhood Education

The aim of early childhood education is to promote children's learning and development. The main providers of early childhood education are:

• Kindergartens, which operate sessional early childhood education for children between the ages of three and five.
• Playcentres, which are collectively supervised and managed by parents for children aged up to five years.
• Education and Care Centres, which provide sessional, all-day, or flexible hour programmes for children from birth to school age. They may be owned by private businesses, private trusts, public bodies or community trusts. Included are a small but increasing number of services that provide Māori Immersion Education and Pacific Island Education.
• Homebased Services, which is a network of homes under the supervision of a homebased coordinator. The coordinator places children with caregivers in approved homes for an agreed number of hours per week.
• The Correspondence School, which is a distance education service mainly for children between three and five who are unable to attend, or have limited access to, an early childhood service because of isolation, illness or itinerancy. Programmes are also available for children with special needs.
• Te Kōhanga Reo programmes, with a whanau development philosophy based on the total immersion of children from birth to school age in Māori language, culture, and values
• A range of licence-exempt groups, which include:
  • Playgroups, which are community based groups of parents and children who meet for one to three sessions per week.
  • Pasifika Language Groups, whose main purpose is to provide programmes based on the values and languages of Pacific Island cultures.
  • Special character centres such as Early Intervention Centres and Pacific Island Centres. These groups operate with a high level of parent participation.
  • Ngā Puna Kōhungahunga, which are groups set up in community based locations that are culturally appropriate for Māori.

Enrolment Trends

A total of 185,528 children were on the regular roll of an early childhood education service at 1 July 2005 , an increase of 0.5 percent since 2004.

Of all year one students attending schools at 1 July 2005 , 92 percent had previously participated in some form of early childhood education. In comparison, 96 percent of European/Pākehā year one students, 91 percent of Asian students, 86 percent Māori students and 81 percent of Pacific Islands students attended some form of early childhood education (refer to table 18).

Different Types of Services

In 2005 there were 4,436 services providing early childhood education. Of these, 3,598 were licensed. There was an overall net increase of 62 licensed and licence-exempt services from July 2004 to July 2005.

Education and care services had the highest proportion of enrolments at licensed services (51 percent) in 2005 followed by kindergartens (27 percent). Enrolments in education and care services have increased steadily over the last ten years. In comparison the proportion of kindergarten enrolments have declined since 1995. This reflects the changing patterns of employment of parents who require services that offer all-day care rather than sessional programmes.

Figure 1 - Enrolments in Early Childhood Education Services 1996-2005

Ethnic Trends

Māori accounted for 19.3 percent of all enrolments in July 2005. Education and care services had the highest proportion of Māori enrolments (33.3 percent ) in July 2005, followed closely by Te Kōhanga Reo (28.1 percent ).

Enrolments for children identified as Pasifika were 6.4 percent of all enrolments. Education and Care services had the largest share of Pasifika enrolments with 46.1 percent of all Pasifika enrolments.

European enrolments made up 67 percent , Asian enrolments made up 5.7 percent and other ethnic groups comprised 1.5 percent of all enrolments.

Table 1 - Children on the Regular Rolls of ECE Services by Ethnic Group at July 2001-2005

ETHNIC GROUP	YEAR					% change 2001-2005
	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
European/Pakeha	118,859	119,297	121,835	124,043	124,360	4.6
NZ Maori	31,026	32,779	33,892	35,232	35,756	15.2
Pasifika	10,917	11,519	11,838	12,062	11,927	9.3
Asian	8,270	8,899	9,886	10,464	10,629	28.5
Other	2,261	2,469	2,549	2,712	2,855	26.3
Total	171,333	174,963	180,000	184,513	185,528	8.3

Staff at Early Childhood Services

In July 2005, 54.2 percent of teachers in licensed services (excluding Te Kōhanga Reo and Playcentres) had a Diploma of Teaching (ECE) or higher. A Diploma in Teaching (ECE) is the minimum qualification required for teacher registration.

The proportion of teachers at education and care services holding a Diploma in Teaching (ECE) or higher increased from 42.2 percent in July 2004 to 46.4 percent in July 2005.

Schools

• Education is compulsory for all children aged between six and sixteen years. Most children are enrolled at school on their fifth birthday. The New Zealand Education Act (1989) provides for free education in state schools administered by boards of trustees.
• At 1 July 2005 there were 2,472 state schools and 108 private schools, which receive some Government funding.
• Homeschooling is possible for those who prefer it, on the condition that a standard of education similar to that available in a registered school is provided. At 1 July 2005 there were 6,428 students involved in homeschooling.
• The Correspondence School provides education for students who cannot attend a school because they live in remote or inaccessible areas, because they are overseas, or because of illness or other special reasons.
• In the school sector an adult is defined as a student who is aged 19 years or over on 1 January of a year in which they attend school.

Figure 2 - Number of Students at 1 July 1996-2005

Enrolment Trends

At 1 July 2005 there were 762,790 students enrolled at schools in New Zealand. Between 2004 and 2005, enrolments in the school sector decreased by 1,864 (0.2 percent).

International Students

At 1 July 2005 there were 11,984 international students attending New Zealand schools. International students now account for 1.6 percent of the school population. Of these students, 11,299 were foreign fee-paying, which was a decrease of 22.0 percent between July 2004 and July 2005. The majority of foreign fee-paying students came from the Asian region.

Ethnic Trends

The number of Asian domestic students attending New Zealand schools increased by 2.8 percent between July 2004 and July 2005. In July 2005 they accounted for 8.0 percent of the domestic school population, compared with 7.8 percent in July 2003.

The proportion of European/Pākehā students in the total domestic school population decreased slightly (from 60.5 percent in July 2004 to 59.6 percent in July 2005). The proportion of Māori students has increased marginally from 21.4 percent to 21.6 percent, and Pasifika students increased from 8.5 percent to 8.8 percent.

Table 2 - Number of Students by Ethnicity, July 2001-2005

ETHNICITY	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	% Change 2001-2005
European/ Pākehā	462,311	459,699	455,868	453,473	448,218	-3.0
Māori	149,590	152,556	157,270	160,732	162,534	8.7
Pasifika	58,402	60,313	62,707	64,121	66,088	13.2
Asian	43,653	49,294	56,024	58,737	60,358	38.3
Other	9,167	10,782	12,312	13,048	14,223	55.2
NZAID Scholarship & Foreign Fee-Paying Students	10,801	15,440	17,574	14,543	11,369	5.3
TOTAL	733,924	748,084	761,755	764,654	762,790	3.9

Regional Trends

In Auckland , where 32.9 percent of the national school population attend schools, there was a 0.5 percent increase in rolls compared with 0.6 percent in July 2004 and 3.8 percent in July 2003.

This was the highest regional increase, followed by the Hawkes Bay , Canterbury and Tasman regions all with a 0.4 percent increase.

There were 11 regions that had decreasing rolls at July 2005. The West Coast and Southland regions had the largest decreases at -3.2 percent and -2.2 percent respectively.

Secondary School Retention

Of all the 14-year-olds at school in July 2003, 80 percent of them were at school at the age of 16 in July 2005. The retention rate for Māori 16-year-olds is 63 percent in July 2005. Pasifika students continue to have the highest retention rates.

Table 3 - Apparent* Retention Rates by Ethnicity and Age at 1 July 2005

ETHNICITY	Age 16	Age 17	Age 18
All**	80%	60%	13%
European/ Pākehā	82%	60%	11%
Māori	63%	39%	8%
Pasifika	84%	66%	20%

* No adjustment has been made to account for migration.

** Excludes Foreign Fee-paying students and NZAID Scholarship students

Attainment of School Leavers in 2004

55,634 students left school in 2004. Year 13 was the last year of schooling for 57.9 percent of school leavers.

During 2004, NCEA Level 3 was offered for the first time and New Zealand Scholarship was also introduced. Students leaving with University Entrance, NCEA Level 3, NZ Scholarship or a Level 4 NQF qualification can be compared with students who would have left previously with eligibility to attend university.

Table 4 - Percentages of Students Leaving School eligible to attend University 2000-2004

Year	Ethnic Group				Total
	Māori	Pasifika	Asian	European/Pākehā
2000	7%	10%	52%	30%	27%
2001	7%	10%	54%	30%	26%
2002	8%	9%	52%	31%	27%
2003	9%	9%	54%	33%	29%
2004	12%	14%	56%	37%	32%

Tertiary

Tertiary education, outlined in this section, is formal education leading to a recognised New Zealand qualification. Students can undertake formal qualifications at public tertiary education institutions and private tertiary education providers. Public tertiary education institutions include universities, polytechnics, colleges of education and wānanga. Private tertiary education providers consist of:

• Private providers receiving a tuition subsidy and with courses approved for student loans and allowances.
• Private providers with courses approved for student loans and allowances only.
• Other tertiary education providers in receipt of a Ministry of Education Grant (OTEP).
• Other private providers registered with the New Zealand Qualifications Authority. Many of these receive funding for Skill NZ programmes.

Data on students attending all of the providers listed above are collected each July via several sources. The statistics provided in this publication therefore represent a snapshot of formal students enrolled at tertiary education providers listed above as at 31 July 2005.

Enrolment Trends

At 31 July 2005 there were 350,853 formal students attending tertiary education providers in New Zealand . This is a decrease of 4.7 percent (17,153 students) since July 2004. The students at public tertiary institutions represented 84.3 percent of the total number of formally enrolled tertiary students.

Table 5 - Tertiary Students Statistics July 2001-2005

SECTOR	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Polytechnics	87,965	95,782	98,072	117,514	118,020
Colleges of Education	10,884	10,788	10,828	11,107	5,686
Universities	125,668	132,396	137,007	138,583	139,151
Wānanga	11,278	27,535	41,200	41,644	33,027
Public Tertiary Total	235,795	266,501	287,107	308,848	295,884
Providers with students receiving tuition subsidy and/or loans and allowances	40,184	40,864	34,927	43,202	43,591
Other Providers	11,482	12,521	14,970	15,956	11,378
Private Tertiary Total	51,666	53,385	49,897	59,158	54,969
Grand Total	287,461	319,886	337,004	368,006	305,853

There has been a 4.2 percent (12,964) decrease in the number of students enrolled in the Public sector between July 2004 and July 2005.

Colleges of Education saw a 48.8 percent decrease in the number of students enrolled, largely due to the Auckland College of Education merging with the University of Auckland in September 2004 and Wellington College of Education merging with Victoria University of Wellington in January 2005.

Wānanga enrolments were also down 20.7 percent. Universities and Polytechnics both had a small increase in student enrolments of 0.4 percent each.

Overall the private tertiary sector had 54,969 enrolments at 31 July 2005 compared with 59,158 in 2004, a decrease of 7.1 percent.

After six years of growth in the number of international students enrolled at New Zealand tertiary education providers, 2005 saw a decrease. At July 2005 there were 36,087 international students, a decrease of 7.5 percent (2,917 students) from July 2004.

Qualification Levels

Just over 36 percent of all tertiary students enrolled at July 2005 were studying at degree level. A further 7.6 percent were studying at post-graduate level, 20.6 percent at diploma level and 35.4 percent at certificate level.

Just over 61 percent of students enrolled at private providers studied at the certificate level.

Age of Students

At 31 July 2005 , students aged 25 and over accounted for 52.4 percent of the student population. Of all students enrolled in tertiary education, 149,331 (42.6 percent) were within the core age group (18-24 years). These students represented 36.6 percent of the total population of this age group.

Ethnic Trends

Māori student enrolments account for 20.9 percent of all domestic student enrolments. There was a small decrease of 4.1 percent (2,884) in the number of Māori enrolled.

Pasifika student enrolments account for 5.7 percent of all domestic student enrolments. There was a small decrease of 4.0 percent (766) in the number of Pasifika students enrolled.

Asian student enrolments account for 11.6 percent of all domestic student enrolments. There has been a decrease of 6.1 percent (2438) in the number of domestic Asian students enrolled.

Qualification Completions - Public Tertiary Education Institutions

Figure 3 - Formal Qualifications Completed by Field of Study and Gender at Public Tertiary Education Institutions in 2004

Glossary of Educational Terms

Activity Centre
Centre for secondary students experiencing problems with schooling and in need of alternative options. Activity centres are attached to a local secondary school for administrative purposes.  

Adult Students
A student who is aged 19 years of age or older on 1 January of a year in which they attend a school.

Alternative Education Student
A young person aged between thirteen and a half and sixteen years of age who has become alienated from the education system, and who is either unwilling to attend a regular school or schools are unwilling to enrol them in a mainstream setting.

Authority
Describes the ownership of each educational institution  

Bilingual Class/es
Classes in which some students in a school are involved in Māori-medium education for 3 to 20 hours per week.

Bilingual School
A school where all students are involved in Māori-medium education for 3 to 20 hours per week.

Childcare Centres
(see Education and Care Centres).

College of Education
A public tertiary education institution that provides mainly specialist teacher education training.

Community and General Education
Mainly second chance education for adults and also hobby classes provided through a variety of educational institutions, organisations, and community groups.

Correspondence School
National school providing distance learning for full-time students, dual enrolled students, adult students and those with special education needs unable to attend regular school. Provides early childhood, primary and secondary education

Decile /Decile Band
(See Socio-Economic Decile Band)

Dual EnrolledStudents
Students who are enrolled at their local school whilst studying subjects through the Correspondence School that their local school is unable to provide

Education and Care Centres
Provide sessional, all-day, or flexible hour programmes for children from birth to school age. They may be privately owned, non-profit making, or operated as an adjunct to a business or organisation.

Equivalent Full-Time Students (EFTS)
The EFTS system is a method of counting tertiary student numbers. The basis of the EFTS system is that a student taking a normal year’s full-time study equals 1.0 EFTS unit and the courses taken by part-time students are fractions of one EFTS unit.

Ethnicity
The ethnic group or groups to which a student belongs. A parent or guardian normally identifies ethnicity of children at the pre-school level. Ethnicity of students at school level is either self-identified or identified by a parent or guardian. Students at tertiary level usually self-identify their ethnic group or groups.

Exchange Student
An international student studying in New Zealand under an exchange programme approved by the New Zealand Government.

Extramural
Covers students who are unable to attend on-campus courses. Students may be resident in New Zealand or overseas.

Field of Study
Field of study is the subject matter of a tertiary qualification. The 12 broad Fields of Study are from the New Zealand Standard Classification of Education (NZSCED).

First-Year Student
A student enrolled in their first year of their first formal programme at a tertiary institution either in New Zealand or overseas. Enrolments in STAR, community or other non-formal courses are not included under this definition.

Foreign Fee-Paying Student
An international student who meets full tuition costs on their own or from funds provided to them by sponsors other than the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Foreign Research-Based Postgraduate Student
Any non-domestic postgraduate student enrolled in a course or courses whose supervised work results in the production of a substantial research output by the individual student, amounting to 100 percent of the learning and assessment for that course.

Formal Student (Tertiary)
For statistical purposes, a tertiary student is considered to be a formal student when enrolled in a formal programme of study at a tertiary education provider with an aggregated EFTS consumption value greater than 0.03 (i.e., more than one week’s full-time duration). STAR students are not included.

Full-Time Equivalent Student (FTE)
At secondary schools an FTE is calculated by adding together class contact hours of each part-time student, dividing by 20, and rounding to one decimal place.

Full-Time Teacher Equivalent (FTTE)
One full-time teacher equivalent is a teacher employed for a full working week.(In schools) Calculated by adding together class contact hours, dividing by 25.

Homebased Services
(Early childhood education) A cluster of homes under the supervision of a homebased co-ordinator. The co-ordinator places children with caregivers in approved homes for an agreed number of hours per week.

Homeschooling
Parents/guardians may choose to educate their children at home, on the condition that a standard of education similar to that in a regular school is provided.

Immersion Class/es
Classes in which some students in a school are involved in Māori-medium education for more than 20 hours per week or more than 80 percent of the time.

Immersion School
A school where all students are involved in Māori-medium education for more than 20 hours per week or more than 80 percent of the time.

Industry Training Organisations (ITOs)
A body recognised under the Industry Training Act 1992 as having responsibility for setting standards and arranging the delivery of industry training for the sector it represents; commonly known as an ITO. ITOs can become accredited to register assessors.

International Student
An overseas student who has come to New Zealand for the purpose of education, and/or is currently studying on a student permit or diplomatic passport. This excludes students from overseas with New Zealand citizenship or permanent residence or with Australian citizenship.

Intramural
Covers courses where students must be physically present in scheduled teaching sessions either in New Zealand or at a provider’s campus located overseas.

Kindergarten
An early childhood institution that provides sessional programmes for mainly three and four year old children.

Kura Kaupapa Māori
State schools where teaching is in the Māori language (Te Reo Māori) and is based on Māori culture and values.

Kura Teina
A developing Kura that is attached to a recognised Kura Kaupapa Māori.

Learning Zone
Each subject has a level of study (learning zone) associated with it to indicate the class level at which it is generally studied. The learning zone may differ from the student’s year of schooling (e.g. a year 13 student studying science at NCEA Level 1is recorded in the year 11 learning zone).

Licence-Exempt Early Childhood Services
A community based non-profit making group operated by parents and are exempt from licensing if they operate for no more than three hours on any one day, have more than half the parents attending each session and parents assume responsibility for each child attending the group.

Licensed Early Childhood Education Centres
Any premises used regularly for the education or care of three or more children under the age of six must be licensed except where specifically exempted by the Minister of Education.

Māori-Medium Education
Students are taught curriculum subjects in both Māori and English (bilingual) or in Māori only (immersion) as well as learning Te Reo Māori.

National Certificate of Education Achievement (NCEA)
A qualification on the National Qualification Framework based on credits from all unit and achievement standards.

Nature of Attendance (Tertiary)
A measure of the extent of attendance in a programme that indicates whether a student is currently studying full-time or part-time.

New Zealand Agency for International Development (NZAID) Student
A student on a scholarship from the New Zealand Agency for International Development. Prior to 2004, this was known as a MFAT Scholarship

New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA)
Independent body responsible for setting and regularly reviewing standards for qualifications including administering national examinations

National Qualification Framework
A framework on which qualifications and skill standards can be registered subject to certain quality criteria being met. Uses a system of levels to indicate progressively more difficult or complex learning outcomes.

Ngā Puna Kōhungahunga
License-exempt groups in community based locations that are culturally appropriate for Māori.

Other: Vote Education
State special schools that are funded by the Ministry of Education but not owned by the Ministry.

Pacific-Medium Education
Students are taught curriculum subjects in both Pacific languages and English (bilingual) or in Pacific languages only (immersion).

Playcentre
An early childhood institution that is collectively supervised and managed by parents for children aged between zero and five years.

Playgroups
Community-based groups of parents and pre-school children whose playgroups meet for one to three sessions per week.

Polytechnic
A public tertiary education institution that is characterised by a wide diversity of vocational and professional programmes.

Prior Activity
The main activity of a first-year tertiary student at 1 October the previous year. Categories include: attendance at a secondary school or other form of education, paid employment, house-person, retired or other beneficiary, and overseas.

Private Tertiary Education Providers
These consist of private institutions registered with the New Zealand Qualifications Authority and other tertiary education providers in receipt of a Ministry of Education Grant (OTEP). Many private tertiary education providers receive Ministry of Education tuition subsidies and/or funding for Skill NZ programmes.

Public Tertiary Education Institutions
A university, college of education, polytechnic or wānanga as defined by the Education Act 1989. The term excludes other post-secondary institutions, such as private training education providers.

Regular student
A domestic student, who is aged less than 19 years at 1 January of the roll count year. Includes:- Students in general classrooms and those in special needs units

Excludes:- Foreign fee-paying students, NZAID-funded students, alternative education students, and adult students.

School Leaver
Students leaving secondary school to enter the workforce, further education or training.

School Locality

Main Urban	Very large urban areas centred on a city or major urban centre. Main urban areas have a minimum population of 30,000.
Secondary Urban	Centred on the larger regional centres. Secondary urban areas have a population between 10,000 and 29,999.
Minor Urban	Urbanised settlements centred around smaller towns. Minor urban areas have a population between 1,000 and 9,999.
Rural	Rural centres have a population between 300 and 999.

School Type

Primary	Full Primary (Year 1-8) Contributing (Year 1-6) Intermediate (Year 7 & 8)
Composite	Composite (Year 1-15) Correspondence School (See separate entry) Restricted Composite (Year 7-10)
Secondary	Secondary (Year 7-15) Secondary (Year 9-15)
Special	Special School (See separate entry)

Skill NZ
A Government agency responsible for providing training in skill development within New Zealand . Programmes include Skill Enhancement, Training Opportunities and Youth Training.

Socio-Economic Decile Band
All schools are given a decile rating, depending on the socio-economic status of the area they serve. Schools in the lowest deciles (1-3) draw their students from communities with the highest degree of socio-economic disadvantage, while those in the highest deciles (8-10) draw the least from these communities.

Special School
A school providing specialist education or support for students with specific physical, behaviour, sensory or intellectual support needs.

Stand-downs (school)
A stand-downis the formal removal of a student from a state school for a specified period. Stand-downs of a student can total no more than 5 school days in any term, or 10 days in a school year. Following stand-downs, students return automatically to school.

STAR
Secondary, Tertiary alignment resource. STAR’s main purpose is to assist senior secondary school students in finding suitable pathways into work or further secondary or tertiary study.

State Integrated Schools
Integrated schools follow the state curriculum requirements but retain their “special character” (religious observances, for example). The proprietors provide accommodation while the state pays day-to-day expenses, including teacher salaries.

Suspensions (school)
A suspensionis the formal removal of a student from a state school until the Board of Trustees decides the outcome at a suspension meeting.

Te Kōhanga Reo
An early childhood institution administered by the Te Kōhanga Reo Trust. The programmes are based on the total immersion of children from birth to school age in Māori language, culture, and values.

Te Reo Māori
The Māori language.

Teen Parent Units
Are classes attached to secondary schools for the education of teenage parents where verified barriers to learning in a mainstream situation have resulted from pregnancy and child rearing responsibilities; and who have enrolled within the age range to receive free education (i.e. up to age 19 years).

Tertiary Education Providers
Post compulsory educational institutions that provide formal programmes of study.

University
A public tertiary education institution that is primarily concerned with advanced learning and knowledge, research, and teaching to a postgraduate level.

Wānanga
A public tertiary institution that provides programmes with an emphasis on the application of knowledge regarding ahuatanga Māori (Māori tradition) according to tikanga Māori (Māori custom).

Wharekura
The Year 9-15 component of Kura Kaupapa Māori that are composite schools. Wharekura are not recorded distinctly from Kura Kaupapa Māori in Ministry data collections, so are not reported on separately within this publication.

Year of Schooling
Measures the number of years of schooling a student has received and provides the Ministry of Education with a method of counting students for funding and staffing purposes. Note that year of schooling does not equate to the academic level that students study at.

Related Pages on Education Counts

See Education Statistics of New Zealand publication home page (also includes data from publications as downloadable spreadsheets).