Indicators Live: Education at a Glance 2009, Results for New Zealand

4. How does our participation compare?

Enrolment rates complement information about the educational attainment of the population. They provide an indication of the extent to which human capital is being maintained and extended. In the following indicators we explore New Zealanders’ participation at various levels of education.

4.1 All levels of education

4.1.1 Enrolment rates, by age

For pre-primary years (ages 3 and 4), participation in New Zealand is relatively high and during the years 5-14 participation is close to 100 percent, in line with almost all other OECD countries. Differences emerge beyond compulsory schooling age.

At ages 15-19 only Luxembourg, the United Kingdom, Mexico and Turkey have lower proportions of the population enrolled in education. However, this pattern is reversed in subsequent age groups and New Zealand’s enrolments rates for age groups 20-29, 30-39 and over 40 are all comfortably above the OECD average. Figure 9 shows the enrolment rates by age groups as a proportion of total population of these groups for selected OECD countries in 2007. Although the enrolment rate of 15-19 year-olds in New Zealand has increased slightly since 2000, it is still less than the OECD average. By contrast, the rate for 20-29 year-olds has increased faster than the OECD average over that time.

Figure 9. Enrolment rates by age for selected countries (2007)

Source: OECD (2009), Education at a Glance, Table C1.1

4.1.2 Transition characteristics from age 15 to 20, by level of education (2007)

When enrolments of 15-20 year-olds are explored more deeply, year by year, different patterns of education participation emerge. Figure 10 shows the enrolment rates in secondary education by single age groups for 15 to 20 year-olds. Enrolment in secondary education⁴ drops rapidly from age 16, and overall enrolment is well below the OECD average at ages 17, 18 and 19 years.

Figure 10. Enrolment rates in secondary education for 15 to 20 year-olds (2007)

Source: OECD (2009), Education at a Glance, Table C1.3

Indicator C3⁵ in Education at a Glance, which measures the success of students in moving from education to work, provides further insight into youth engagement in education.Indicator C3 reports that 73%⁶ of 15 to 19 year-old New Zealanders were engaged in education in 2007. This is less than Australia (80%), the United States (85%) and the OECD on average (84%), but higher than the United Kingdom (62%).

New Zealand’s relatively low level of enrolment in education in this indicator reflects its low unemployment levels in 2007. Whereas, compared to their OECD counterparts, 10.7% fewer New Zealand 15-19 year-olds were enrolled in education, 8.6% more were in employment in 2007. (The impact of education on employment is explored further in 6.1.2.)

At older age groups the proportions of the population participating in education in New Zealand are more favourable. For instance, the proportion of 20 to 24 year olds is similar to other countries, while the proportion of 25 to 29 year olds is higher than most other countries. Generally, females are more likely to be in education than males, as illustrated in Figure 11. However, in New Zealand and also Australia, a higher percentage of 20-24 year-old males than females were in education in 2007.

Figure 11: Percentage of young males and females in education (2007)

Source: OECD (2009), Education at a Glance, Table C3.2b and C3.2c (web only)

4.1.3 Education expectancy (2007)

This measure estimates the number of years a person in each country can expect to be enrolled in education, given current enrolment patterns. It is computed as the total of the probabilities of being enrolled in education at each specific year of age. This measure has some limits for New Zealand, in particular:

• in the past it has not distinguished full-time from part-time study
• its measurement of education expectancy at ages 40 and over is not robust - that age group makes up a significant portion of New Zealand’s tertiary education participants
• it includes both international and domestic students
  

However, this year full-time and part-time participation is distinguished and, while the impact of international students has not yet been measured, this should be possible for future years.

Figure 12 shows that a young person aged 15 in New Zealand can expect to spend 6.8 years in additional education. This figure has remained relatively constant over the last three years and is similar to other countries in the OECD. New Zealanders enjoy slightly fewer years of full-time education, but considerably more part-time years. If measured on a full-time equivalent basis, it is likely that New Zealand’s result would be close to average. Adjusting for international students would reduce New Zealand’s result somewhat.

Figure 12: Expected years in education for 15-29 year-olds (2005-2007)

Source: OECD (2009), Education at a Glance, Table C3.1b (web only)

4.2 Participation in tertiary education

Tertiary participation is particularly important for developing and maintaining a highly qualified workforce. It has also been shown to be a key factor in better labour market outcomes.

4.2.1 Expected years in tertiary education (2007)

Results for education expectancy at the tertiary level in New Zealand mirror the results for all levels of education combined. New Zealanders enjoy slightly fewer full-time years of tertiary education, but considerably more part-time years.

At tertiary-type B level, New Zealand has a relatively high number of expected years of tertiary study overall; higher than countries such as Australia and the United Kingdom, although full-time study years are only at the OECD average (see Figure 15). Expected years participating in tertiary-type A programmes are slightly above average overall, although below average for full-time study (see Figure 14).

Figure 13: Expected years in tertiary type B education (2007)

Source: OECD (2009), Education at a Glance, Table C1.8 (web only)

Figure 14: Expected years in tertiary type A education (2007)

Source: OECD (2009), Education at a Glance, Table C1.8 (web only)

Figure 15 shows the enrolment rates for 16 to 20 year-olds in tertiary education. For 19 and 20 year olds, rates are very similar to those of Australia and above the OECD average. For both countries, this can be largely attributed to the impact of international students.

Figure 15. Enrolment rates in tertiary education for 16 to 20 year-olds (2007)

Source: OECD (2009), Education at a Glance 2009, Table C1.3

4.2.2 Entry rates to tertiary education and age distribution of new entrants (2007)

The net entry rate is the number of first-time entrants to tertiary education in an age group divided by the total population in that age group. The overall entry rate is the sum of net entry rates for all age groups. The result provides a proxy for the probability of a person entering tertiary education within their lifetime. Although these conditions are somewhat simplistic, it provides a measure for international comparison albeit with limitations. Rates are calculated in Education at a Glance for tertiary-type B, tertiary-type A and advanced research programmes. The age distribution at which people are likely to enter tertiary-type A study is also provided.

The relatively large number of older aged New Zealanders entering tertiary education for the first time tends to inflate the net entry rate, as there is more than one generation entering at the same time. Rates are also inflated by the high proportion of international students in the New Zealand system. Education at a Glance includes rates adjusted to exclude international students.

In tertiary-type B, New Zealand has a fairly high entry rate of 48, compared with an average of 15 across the OECD. The New Zealand rate for females is 54 and males is 42. After adjusting for international students, the rate for New Zealand is 41. New Zealand’s high rate reflects the high numbers of adult students entering this level of tertiary education for the first time.

New Zealand’s overall entry rate for tertiary-type A is presented in Figure 17. It is lower than Australia’s and higher than the OECD average. Once adjusted for international students, it is similar to that of Australia and the United States. For males, the New Zealand rate is considerably lower than Australia’s while it is higher for females, and similar to Australia and the United States.

Figure 16: Entry rates to tertiary-type A programmes (2007)

Source: OECD (2009), Education at a Glance, Table A2.4

New Zealand entry rates for advanced research programmes are lower than Australia’s and the OECD average (see Figure 18). After adjusting for international students, the difference between New Zealand and Australia is even greater. Rates are fairly similar for males and females.

Figure 17: Entry rates for advanced research programmes

Source: OECD (2009), Education at a Glance, Table A2.4

New Zealand has a very wide age distribution for first time entry to tertiary-type A compared with other similar OECD countries. Figure 19 shows the age distribution of new entrants to tertiary-type A programmes. Fifty percent of New Zealand first-time entrants enter study by the age of 21, compared to the OECD average of just over 20. However, the 80th percentile for New Zealand is over 30, compared with 25 for the United Kingdom and the OECD average.

Figure 18: Age distribution of new entrants to tertiary-type A programmes

Note: Middle box indicates 50th percentile and top and bottom indicate the 80th and 20th percentiles respectively.

Source: OECD (2009), Education at a Glance, Table A2.4

Footnotes

4. Note that this includes lower level certificate courses in the New Zealand tertiary system that are considered equivalent to upper secondary education in the ISCED classification.
5. C3 is sourced from labour force surveys and complements C1 which measures participation from administrative enrolment data.
6. This represents an increase on last year’s published figure of 65.6%, but due to data revisions really represents a decline from 78% in 2005 and 73.9% in 2006.