Profile & Trends 2007: New Zealand's Tertiary Education Sector

Students in provider-based qualifications

Level 1 to 3    (ch. 7)

In 2007, students in level 1 to 3 qualifications represented 40 percent of all students in formal provider-based tertiary education.

Enrolments in level 1 to 3 certificates have continued to decrease across all areas of provision. The number of students in foundation education qualifications has decreased by 18 percent and the number in vocational qualifications by 4.1 percent. There have also been decreases in the number of people in Training Opportunities and Youth Training programmes.

A continued improvement in the labour market is one of the reasons for the decreased participation at this level. Most people entering level 1 to 3 certificates at providers were already in employment. Students in vocational certificates are enrolling for less than six full-time equivalent weeks.

The decreased participation has also been the result of continued reviews of the quality and relevance of provision at this level, as described in last year’s edition of "Profile & Trends". This has had a strong impact on the numbers in general foundation education qualifications and short courses. At the same time, the government has increased its support for quality provision of literacy, language and numeracy, with a particular emphasis on embedding this within vocational education.

The government is also investing in literacy, language and numeracy through an action plan covering the years 2008 through to 2012. A discussion on this plan is included in chapter 7.
 

Level 4 to 7 non-degree   (ch. 8)

In 2007, students in non-degree level 4 to 7 qualifications represented 29 percent of all students in formal provider-based tertiary education.

There have been changing patterns of participation in level 4 to 7 non-degree study in recent years. Between 2001 and 2005, there were five years of significant growth in the number of students enrolled in level 4 to 7 non-degree study. Then, in 2006, enrolments in all level 4 to 7 certificates and diplomas declined. In 2007, the pattern changed again: there was an increase in enrolments in level 4 certificates, while the number of students enrolled in level 5 to 7 certificates and diplomas has continued to decrease. International student numbers have also been declining since 2004, but this decrease in enrolments levelled off in 2007. The number of domestic students at this level increased in 2007, after decreasing in 2006 for the first time in recent years.

In 2007, there were increases in the number of domestic students enrolled in level 4 to 7 non-degree study across all types of providers, except at wānanga. In 2007, more than half of all level 4 to 7 non-degree study occurred at polytechnics. The number of domestic students aged 25 years or over continued to dominate this level of study, with two-thirds of all domestic students being aged 25 years or over.

While the number of domestic students completing a level 4 certificate decreased significantly in 2006 (the latest available data) there were more students completing level 5 to 7 certificates or diplomas. The five-year completion rates also increased in 2006. Almost one in two domestic students who had started a non-degree level 4 certificate in 2002, and one in three who started a non-degree level 5 to 7 diploma, had completed that qualification by 2006.

A study that attempts to test the school of thought that ‘seamless progressions into higher-level tertiary study are more likely to occur within an institution rather than through a student changing institutions’ is included in chapter 8. The study tests this assumption against tertiary education data.

Bachelors and postgraduate   (ch. 9)

In 2007, students in bachelors and postgraduate qualifications represented 38 percent of all students in formal provider-based tertiary education.

There was an increase in the number of students enrolled in bachelors-level and higher study in 2007, compared with a drop in enrolments in 2006. In 2007, there was a significant increase in honours and doctoral students while numbers in bachelors and masters-level study decreased. There has been a continuing decrease in international students, from an all-time high in 2004. In comparison, domestic student numbers remained relatively unchanged in 2006, and increased in 2007 at bachelors, postgraduate and doctoral levels while remaining stable at masters level.

Universities continued to dominate bachelors-level and higher provision in 2007, with four in every five students at these levels studying at a university. All provider types experienced an increase in the number of students in 2007. The smallest percentage increase occurred in polytechnics, while the largest percentage increase occurred in enrolments in private training establishments. There was an increase in domestic students aged 25 years and over enrolled in bachelors-level and higher study in 2007, following a couple of years of declining enrolments, while the number of domestic students aged under 25 years continued to rise.

The number of students completing a bachelors-level or higher qualification increased slightly in 2006. This was due in part to an increase in the five-year completion rate for those domestic students who started study in 2002. Level 8 qualifications¹ experienced the largest increase in domestic students completing qualifications. The five-year completion rates for bachelors-level or higher qualifications were highest for European and Asian domestic students in 2006.

A summary of a recently published report by the Ministry of Education on the cumulative cohort participation rate is included in chapter 9. The report looked at people born in 1978 and followed their participation pattern in tertiary education until 2007 when that cohort turned 29.

 

Footnote

1. This category covers bachelors degrees with honours, postgraduate certificates and postgraduate diplomas.