Homeschooling as at 1 July 2006

For any enquiries about this report, please email Information.Officer@minedu.govt.nz, or you can download the supplementary tables from this webpage.

Statistics on homeschooling

At 1 July 2006 there were 6,298 homeschoolers recorded on the Ministry of Education’s homeschooling database, which represents less than 1 percent of total school enrolments at July 2006. These students belonged to 3,272 families.

Homeschooling 1998-2006

From 1998 to 2004, the number of homeschoolers in New Zealand showed a gradual increase but has been decreasing since 2004.

In 1998 there was a total of 5,274 homeschoolers; in 2006 there were 6,298 - an increase of 19 percent.
Between 1 July 2005 and 1 July 2006 the number of homeschoolers dropped by 130 students - a decrease of 2 percent.

Image of graph

Number Commencing Homeschooling

For the year ending 30 June 2006 , 1,203 students commenced homeschooling - a decrease of 14.8 percent compared with the number starting during the previous year.

Of those starting in the 12 months ending 30 June 2006 :

41 percent were aged six years old
82 percent were aged within the primary school age range (5-12 years)

Image of Homeschoolers commencing between July 2005 and July 2006.

Number Finishing Homeschooling

For the year ending 30 June 2006 , 1,333 students finished homeschooling. Of these:

190 (14 percent) finished their homeschooling within a year of starting
892 (67 percent) finished within four years
435 (33 percent) had been homeschooled for 5 or more years.

Image of Duration of Homeschoolers finishing between July 2005 and July 2006.

Age Distribution of Homeschoolers

Of those being homeschooled, 66 percent were in the primary-school age range (5-12 years).

Table 1 - Number of Homeschoolers by Age and Gender at 1 July 2006

Age	Male	Female	Total	Percentage
5	4	5	9	0.1
6	238	269	507	8.1
7	316	299	615	9.8
8	317	296	613	9.7
9	317	296	613	9.7
10	320	278	598	9.5
11	299	279	578	9.2
12	317	301	618	9.8
13	270	306	576	9.1
14	266	256	522	8.3
15	237	253	490	7.8
16	139	180	319	5.1
17	77	90	167	2.7
18	28	33	61	1.0
19	6	6	12	0.2
Total	3,151	3,147	6,298	100.0

Homeschoolers by Region

76 percent of homeschoolers reside in the North Island
24 percent live in Auckland
Northland, West Coast, Nelson-Marlborough and the Manawatu-Wanganui regions had the highest proportions of homeschoolers compared to the total school populations in those regions
Gisborne, Wellington , Otago and Hawkes Bay had the lowest proportions of homeschoolers in relation to their total school populations

Ethnicity of Homeschoolers

Eighty-Nine percent of homeschoolers reported their ethnicity. Of these:

84 percent identified as European/Pakeha
10 percent identified as Māori
A lower proportion of homeschoolers identified as being Māori, Asian or Pacific Islands compared to students attending regular schools.

Image of Comparison of School Students and Homeschoolers by Ethnicity at 1 July 2006.

Related Webpages on Education Counts'

The Homeschooling statistics index page.

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