Attendance in New Zealand Schools in 2009
Publication Details
This survey on attendance was carried out in June 2009. The survey aims to inform the Ministry’s work to improve student engagement in education.
Author(s): Marian Loader & Tracey Ryan, Education Information and Analysis Division [Ministry of Education]
Date Published: February 2010
Analysis of Absences on Different Days of the Week
Table 1 shows the results of the 2009 survey by each day of the week. The overall absence rate is fairly uniform over the week but as in 2006 and 2004 it is highest for days either side of the weekend, highest on Friday (12.8%), followed by Monday and Thursday (both 11.5%). Both justified and unjustified absences follow this pattern over the week, the intermittent unjustified absence rate was lowest on Mondays (1.8%) but similar on other days (2.0-2.2%) through the week.
| * Includes students from Special schools, who were not included in previous surveys. | ||||
| Day of the week | Total Absence rate (%) | Justified absence rate (%) | Unjustified absence rate (%) | Intermittent unjustified absence rate (%) |
| Monday | 11.5 | 7.5 | 2.3 | 1.8 |
| Tuesday | 11.1 | 7.3 | 1.8 | 2.0 |
| Wednesday | 11.0 | 7.0 | 1.9 | 2.1 |
| Thursday | 11.5 | 7.4 | 2.1 | 2.0 |
| Friday | 12.8 | 7.7 | 2.8 | 2.2 |
| National Average* | 11.6 | 7.4 | 2.2 | 2.0 |
The estimate of the overall national absence rate in 2009 is 11.6 percent. This compares to an absence rate of 11.5 percent in 2006 and 10.9 percent in 2004. The margin of error for the 2009 national absence estimate (with 95% confidence) is 2.1%, therefore the difference between the 2009 estimates and 2006 (11.5%) and 2004 (10.9% is not statistically significant.
Compared to 2006 the justified absence rate and unjustified absence rates stayed relatively constant, see Table 2. There was a small increase in the intermittent unjustified absence rate, which is not statistically significant.
| Year | Total Absence rate (%) | Justified absence rate (%) | Unjustified absence rate (%) | Intermittent unjustified absence rate (%) |
| 2004 | 10.9 | 7.5 | 2.1 | 1.3 |
| 2006 | 11.5 | 7.4 | 2.3 | 1.8 |
| 2009 | 11.6 | 7.4 | 2.2 | 2.0 |
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