Education Counts

Page navigation links

  • Education Counts Logo
  • Skip to Primary Navigation Menu
  • Skip to Secondary Navigation Menu
  • Skip to search
  • Skip to content

Site Search

Site Search

Site navigation menus

  • Know your Region
  • Communities of Learning
  • Find your nearest school
  • Early Learning Services
  • Directories
  • Publications
  • Indicators
  • Statistics
  • Topics
  • Data Services

Search the education counts website

Find pages with

Narrow results by:

North Island

  • Northland Region
  • Auckland Region
  • Waikato Region
  • Bay of Plenty Region
  • Gisborne Region
  • Hawke's Bay Region
  • Taranaki Region
  • Manawatu-Wanganui Region
  • Wellington Region

South Island

  • Tasman Region
  • Nelson Region
  • Marlborough Region
  • West Coast Region
  • Canterbury Region
  • Otago Region
  • Southland Region

Chatham Islands County

Districts in Northland Region

  • Far North District
  • Whangarei District
  • Kaipara District

Northland Region

Home Close Menu
  • Know your Region
    • Region Summary
    • Student Population
      • Year Level
      • Age
      • Trends
    • Early Childhood Education
    • Student Engagement
      • Stand-downs
      • Suspensions
      • Exclusions
    • Retention
    • School Qualifications
      • NCEA level 1
      • NCEA level 2
      • NCEA level 3
      • Vocational Pathway Awards
    • Progression to Tertiary
      • Qualification Level
      • Institution Type
    • 18-Year-Old Attainment
      • Age
      • Trends
    • Finances
    • Technical Notes / Definitions
  • Communities of Learning
  • Find your nearest school
  • Early Learning Services
  • Directories
  • Publications
  • Indicators
  • Statistics
  • Topics
  • Data Services

Retention

Completion of upper secondary education is associated with a range of economic and social benefits both in New Zealand and across the OECD. Retention to senior secondary schooling is linked to higher levels of skills and knowledge required for participation in our increasingly knowledge-based society and the wider global community.

The retention data presented here is calculated from school leaver data, that is, it is the age that a school leaver completed their schooling. The Ministry convention is to consider the proportion of students that remain at school until at least their 17th birthday; this is a year after compulsory education and the average age for a student completing their upper secondary qualifications.

Identical information is available for the region’s territorial authorities using the drop down menu above. For other territorial authorities first choose the appropriate region from the drop down menu above.

Percentage of school leavers staying at school until at least their 17th birthday (2017-2019)
Group Left before 17th birthday Stayed until 17th birthday Percentage staying until at least 17th birthday
2017 2018 2019 2017 2018 2019 2017 2018 2019
Female 245 208 249 887 846 796 78.4 80.3 76.2
Male 346 336 353 795 765 707 69.7 69.5 66.7
Māori 394 344 407 803 782 686 67.1 69.4 62.8
Pacific 29 34 31 71 78 80 71.0 69.6 72.1
Asian 4 5 11 58 54 53 93.5 91.5 82.8
MELAA 3 3 3 17 23 14 85.0 88.5 82.4
Other 6 1 4 11 7 8 64.7 87.5 66.7
European/Pākehā 253 262 279 959 907 930 79.1 77.6 76.9
Region Total 591 544 602 1,682 1,611 1,503 74.0 74.8 71.4
New Zealand Total 9,957 10,037 11,113 52,698 51,260 50,593 84.1 83.6 82.0

Notes:

  1. ‘x’ = data has been suppressed where there are between 0 and 5 students in the denominator for a specific group, for example Asian students. Where one gender has been suppressed the corresponding gender has also been suppressed. 'na' = not applicable.
  2. Ethnicity is multiple response, that is, students who affiliated in more than one ethnic group have been counted in each ethnic group. Students are only counted once in the total, therefore, the ethnic groups may not sum to the total.
  3. International fee-paying students and adult students (age 19+) are excluded.

Site information

  • Site map
  • Contact us
  • Feedback
  • About this site
  • Glossary
  • Accessibility
  • Copyright, Legal & Privacy
  • Links
  • © Education Counts 2021
  • Ministry of Education logo.
  • New Zealand Government logo.
Scroll to top of page