School leavers with NCEA Level 2 or above
Why This Is Important
A formal school qualification is a measure of the extent to which young adults have completed a basic prerequisite for higher education and training and many entry-level jobs. The main qualification available to secondary school students is the NCEA, which encompasses a wide range of learning. NCEA enables students to undertake multilevel study to attain credits, perhaps at different levels in any one year, towards an NCEA qualification. Students can attain credits through internal and external assessment, and they can accumulate these credits both within and across years. Educational and job prospects will be limited for those who leave school without Level 2 NCEA.The attainment of an upper secondary school qualification is linked to labour force status and incomes. In 2007 New Zealanders with no qualifications had an unemployment rate over 53% higher than those whose highest qualification was a school qualification (OECD 2009).
Indicator
Percentage of school leavers with NCEA Level 2 or above
Numerator: (Data source: Ministry of Education: MarchSchool Roll Returns)
The total number of school leavers who attained:
- NCEA Level 2 or other Level 2 NQF qualification; or
- 30-59 credits at Level 3 or above for NCEA or other National Certificate at Level 3, without University Entrance requirements; or
- 42-59 credits level 3 or above for NCEA or other National Certificate at Level 3, with University Entrance requirements; or
- Accelerated Christian Education (ACE) or overseas award (including International Baccalaureate) at Year 13; or
- University Entrance; or
- National Certificate Level 3; or
- University Bursary (A or B); or
- NZ Scholarship or National Certificate Level 4,
as at the time they left school in a given school year.
Denominator: (Data source: Ministry of Education: MarchSchool Roll Returns)
The total number of school leavers in a given school year.
Interpretation Issues
NCEA is part of the National Qualifications Framework and has replaced School Certificate, Sixth Form Certificate and University Entrance/University Bursaries qualifications. In 2002 all schools implemented NCEA Level 1 replacing School Certificate. In 2003 NCEA Level 2 was rolled out, however, schools were still able to offer a transitional Sixth Form Certificate Programme. From 2004, Level 3 NCEA replaced Higher School Certificate and University Entrance/ University Bursaries. In 2004 a new Level 4 qualification, New Zealand Scholarship was also offered.
Due to methodological changes in the allocation of individual attainment levels in 2004, for leavers achieving a qualification between little or no formal attainment and UE standard, the percentages of leavers with at least NCEA Level 2 in 2004 is not comparable with other years, and have been omitted.
Prioritisation of ethnicity is when people are allocated to one of the ethnicities they have recorded they affiliate with. This usually occurs when data are collected manually and/or aggregate data returns are collected centrally. This allocation is performed using a predetermined order of ethnic groups. For this indicator ethnicity is prioritised in the order of Māori, Pasifika, Asian, Middle Eastern/Latin American/African, other groups except European/Pākehā, and European/Pākehā.
For this indicator European/Pākehā refers to people who affiliate as New Zealand European, Other European or European (not further defined). For example, this includes and is not limited to people who consider themselves as Australian (excluding Australian Aborigines), British and Irish, American, Spanish, and Ukrainian.