School Leavers: 2008
This report provides a summary of the key statistics on 2007 school leavers.
Author: Ministry of Education
Date Published: September 2009
Available from top right hand inset box. Data tables were prepared by Indicators and Reporting in the Ministry of Education, any enquiries can be emailed to: information.officer@minedu.govt.nz or phone: 64-4-463-8065.
The monitoring of the highest attainment of school leavers is based on the annual 1 March survey of secondary and composite schools. These statistics include all full-time regular students, full-time adult students and special education class students who left school during the period 1 March 2008 to 28 February 2009, to go on to further education, training, the workforce or other activities. These leavers are described as 2008 school leavers.
In 2008 there were 52,634 school leavers of which over sixty percent were European/Pākehā. Almost forty percent of these school leavers obtained NCEA Level 3 or higher (20,778). Three-in-every-four school leavers were Year 13 (39,142). If students left in Year 11 they were far more likely to be male (2,006) than female (1,211). Just under two-and-a-half percent of 2008 school leavers had a Non-NQF qualification as their highest attainment (1,303).
- School leavers with NCEA Level 1 or above
- School leavers with NCEA Level 2 or above
- School leavers with a university entrance standard
- School leavers entering tertiary education
The school leaver statistics in recent years have reflected a qualifications system that is in transition due to the phased rollout of the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) between 2002 and 2004.
From 2004, all school leaver highest attainment statistics were based on the NQF/NCEA but the methodology necessarily involved mapping some attainment under the previous examination system to the NCEA context.
School leavers are defined as full-time, regular, Year 9 to Year 15 students and special education class students who have finished their schooling and last attended school on or after 1 March 2008 and before 1 March 2009. Also included are full-time, regular adult students and regular students who have turned 15 years of age and have been granted an exemption from enrolment and who have finished their schooling.
School Leavers do not include:
- Regular students who left school to transfer to another secondary school, become home schooled or went overseas permanently
- Returning adult students
- Alternative education students
- NZAID funded students
- Foreign fee paying students
- Exchange students
- Suspended students
- External students
- Part-time students
- Students aged under the age of 16 whose destination is unknown or
- Students aged under the age of 16 in a Children, Youth and Family Service residence or programme