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Education at a Glance is an annual report comparing the education systems of OECD countries and a number of participating partner countries over a large range of indicators. The report provides one of the most extensive ranges of comparative education system indicators available. Its purpose is to support system performance assessment and policy development with international evidence. The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic remain a key factor influencing some of the changes seen in this year’s results.

Participation in education in New Zealand

• Participation in ECE is above the OECD average for children under three years old, and around the OECD average for three- and four-year-olds. Participation for five-year-olds in ECE or schooling is slightly above average, reflecting the later typical school starting age of six in most OECD countries.
• Participation is around the OECD average for schooling ages 6 to 14. The age range at which at least 90 percent of the New Zealand population is in education is ages 5 to 17, similar to the average across OECD countries.
• Participation remains lower than the OECD average at upper-secondary ages 15 to 19. Employment rates for New Zealanders in this age group are amongst the highest in the OECD. The proportion not in employment or education is around the OECD average.
• Participation at traditional tertiary ages (18 to 24) is also around the OECD average, but is relatively high at older ages, over twice the OECD average for adults aged 25 and over.

Educational achievement and transitions to further study and employment

• Educational attainment in the New Zealand population (aged 25 to 64) is around the OECD average. Around 19 percent of 25 to 64-year-olds have less than the equivalent of NCEA Level 2 (compared to an OECD average of 20 percent). Forty-one percent have at least NCEA Level 2 or equivalent but less than a tertiary diploma (compared to an OECD average of 42 percent). Forty percent have a tertiary diploma or higher (the same as the OECD average).
• New Zealanders complete initial upper-secondary education at about the same rate as the OECD average. However, compared with other OECD countries, more are likely to have transitioned to, and completed via upper-secondary-level (i.e. Level 1-3) vocational qualifications in post-school settings. This is more typical in a number of anglophone countries but is less common across OECD countries where vocational education tracks and programmes are part of initial school education. Overall, the share of New Zealanders completing a Level 1 to 3 vocational qualification is less than the OECD average.
• However, New Zealand has one of the highest shares of adults participating in and completing Level 4 qualifications. Overall, the share of adults with a school or tertiary qualification at NZQF Level 2 to 4 is around the OECD average. The share of students doing diploma-level qualifications is slightly higher than the OECD average.
• Those with tertiary qualifications are noticeably more likely to hold a bachelors degree and less likely to hold a masters degree than what is typical in other OECD countries, but the overall share of adults with a bachelors or higher-level qualification is the same as the OECD average. The share of our population with doctorates is also about the average.
• New Zealand tertiary students are slightly more likely to be female, and there are more students aged 25 and over than the average across OECD countries.
• The share of students studying in different fields is also about the same as the OECD average. However, the share of female students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (or STEM) fields, as well as in agriculture fields, is amongst the highest in the OECD.

Teachers, the learning environment, and the organisation of schools

• Teacher salary comparisons relate to 2021 and 2022, so do not reflect the 2023 settlement of teacher’s collective agreements. Average actual salaries in 2021 for New Zealand primary and secondary teachers were above the OECD average, with New Zealand ranking around 10th in the OECD. Average actual salaries for teachers relative to the earnings of full-time full-year workers with a tertiary diploma or higher were lower for primary teachers (at 91 percent) but close to parity for secondary teachers (99 percent). On these measures, New Zealand ranked 7th for primary teachers, and 9th for upper-secondary teachers (from around 20 OECD countries reporting).
• Between 2015 and 2021, average actual salaries for New Zealand primary and secondary teachers grew in real terms by 12 percent, compared with an OECD average growth of 15 percent for primary teachers and 16 to 17 percent for secondary teachers.
• From 25 OECD countries reporting the level of teacher qualifications, 42 percent of primary teachers and 69 percent of upper-secondary teachers held a masters degree or higher. In New Zealand, a bachelors degree is more common, with four percent of primary teachers and 14 percent of upper-secondary holding a masters degree or higher.
• Student-to-teacher ratios (which are expressed in full-time-equivalent rather than headcount terms) are largely similar to the OECD average for primary, secondary and most levels of tertiary education.
• Compared to the average across OECD countries, New Zealand has both a slightly higher share of secondary teachers aged over 50 (43 percent compared with 40 percent) and a slightly higher share aged under 30 (11 percent compared with eight percent). The share of school teachers who are male is similar to the OECD average (which is 18 percent at primary and around 40 percent at upper-secondary). At tertiary levels, New Zealand has a lower share of male teaching
  staff; 47 percent compared with 57 percent for the OECD average.
• The school year is a little longer in New Zealand. At between 38 and 39 weeks, the number of weeks schools are open for instruction in New Zealand is one and a half to two weeks longer than the average across OECD countries.
• This year’s edition includes an indicator on national or central student evaluation and assessment systems. National or central assessment systems in schools exist in almost all OECD countries. They are less common at upper-secondary level. While assessment is still an expectation of our system, New Zealand is in a handful of countries (with Poland and Costa Rica) which do not, or no longer have national or central standards-based assessment at any level.
• In terms of national or centrally run examination systems, New Zealand is similar to most OECD countries with these in place at upper-secondary level. Around a dozen countries also have national examinations at lower-secondary level. The main purposes for examinations are for certification, graduation or grade completion, eligibility for tertiary education, and selection for specific tertiary programmes.

Financial resources invested in education

• Expenditure data in this year’s report relates to 2020. In terms of total public and private expenditure per student, New Zealand sits in the middle of OECD countries, just under the OECD average. This has not changed much over time. Average expenditure per student is in the bottom quarter at primary levels, and about average at secondary levels. At tertiary levels, New Zealand is above average, and when expenditure on research is excluded, New Zealand’s expenditure on tertiary is in the top quarter.
• In the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, around a third of OECD countries saw increases in expenditure per student, a third largely stayed the same, while a third saw decreases. For New Zealand, public expenditure increases (on a per-student basis) were amongst the highest in the OECD (along with Australia, Canada and Ireland). These increases in public expenditure were offset by reductions in private expenditure as a result of fewer international students.
• Increases in public expenditure and reductions in private expenditure (including that from international students) have seen the public share of education expenditure increase in 2020 and 2021, in particular at post-schooling levels. The government share of education expenditure was 95 percent for primary education, around 90 percent at secondary level, and around 60 percent at tertiary level.
• The largest gains in public funding shares were in post-schooling vocational education and training (VET), with the public share increasing from 70 percent in 2019 to 83 percent in 2020, reflecting the apprenticeship support initiatives introduced in 2020. At tertiary diploma level and higher, the public share of investment increased from 54 percent in 2019 to 58 percent in 2020 and 60 percent in 2021. New Zealand’s public share sits around the OECD average at schooling levels but is lower than average at tertiary levels. New Zealand is in a group of typically anglophone countries with policy settings that support a higher private share of tertiary costs with larger public financial support systems.
• The share of total government expenditure that is allocated to education remains higher than the OECD average. In previous years New Zealand has ranked near the top in this measure but in 2020 and 2021 the share declined, and our relative position has shifted towards the average. This is due to total government expenditure increasing more than government education expenditure during this period. While the share has declined, the actual increase in government education expenditure in 2020 was significant, amongst the top five, in percentage terms, across OECD countries.
• As a share of gross domestic product, education expenditure in New Zealand sits just above the OECD average, at
  5.4 percent. Again, it is lower for primary, average for secondary, and a little above average for tertiary, more so if research is not counted. This indicator is often used as a proxy for a country’s ‘ability to pay’. Traditionally New Zealand has performed very well on this indicator. The change in our relative position this year relates less to education expenditure and more to the changes in GDP across OECD countries.
• In terms of public expenditure as a share of GDP, New Zealand sits about the average at schooling levels, and above average at tertiary levels. Public expenditure on education has increased 20 percent in real terms since 2015, compared to 12 percent on average across the OECD. GDP increased by 19 percent compared to eight percent on average across the OECD.
• This data so far relates only to schooling and tertiary education. Expenditure on early childhood education (ECE) is kept separate in Education at a Glance as it is less complete due to data comparability and availability across a number of OECD countries. New Zealand reports data on public expenditure on ECE but does not report data on private expenditure on ECE. While public ECE investment comparisons are not included in this year’s edition, in previous years New Zealand’s investment per child in ECE has been shown to be high. When New Zealand’s public-only expenditure per child is compared alongside total public and private expenditure per child in other countries, New Zealand ranks in the top 10.

Vocational Education and Training (VET)

• This year’s edition of Education at a Glance has a focus on VET. Differences in how systems operate across countries, including how different countries may position VET skill levels, is a factor for interpreting cross-country comparisons for VET. New Zealand is in a minority group (of mainly anglophone countries) that have a predominantly generally oriented initial schooling system, with relatively little vocational tracking, and where VET (including that which is at a level equivalent to upper-secondary) is done after leaving school.
• VET students in such countries, including New Zealand, are noticeably older. In New Zealand, while the most common age of VET students is under 20, the average age is over 30, the highest in the OECD, along with Australia and Ireland.
• For both New Zealand and Australia, expenditure per student at upper-secondary levels (Levels 1-3) is lower for VET than it is for non-VET. By contrast, in most countries where upper-secondary-level VET is done as part of the initial schooling system, expenditure per student is higher for VET than it is for non-VET, in part due to the higher student-to-teacher ratios in post-school settings.
• Compared to New Zealand, countries with vocational programmes within initial schooling tend to have higher levels of VET participation and attainment at Levels 1 to 3, but less at Level 4. While transition to Level 1 to 3 VET programmes post-school is common in New Zealand, the share of the population with this level and type of attainment is less than the OECD average. By contrast, New Zealand has the highest percentage of the population enrolled in VET programmes at Level 4 in the OECD, and the second highest share of the population qualified at this level. When VET across all levels from upper-secondary to diploma level is combined, New Zealand’s VET share is similar to the OECD average.
• Employment and earnings comparisons between VET graduates and non-VET graduates are presented for a combined Level 1-4 group. VET graduates on average across the OECD have higher employment than non-VET graduates, and this is true also for New Zealand. However, average earnings are about the same for VET and non-VET, both in New Zealand and for the OECD average.

International

• International student data in this year’s edition relates to 2021, so reflects the significant impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on international students to New Zealand. New Zealand and Australia were the two countries showing the largest declines in shares of international students in 2020 and 2021 as a result of COVID-19-induced border closures. In 2019, New Zealand had the third highest share of international students amongst its tertiary student population (at 21 percent). In 2021, New Zealand was ninth (at 12 percent). In absolute number terms, New Zealand’s share of international students remains small, at under one percent of all international students globally.
• Education at a Glance provides unique information on where New Zealanders go to when they travel overseas to do tertiary study. In 2021, 35 percent were in the United States, 24 percent in Australia, 12 percent in the United Kingdom and 9 percent were in Germany. Prior to COVID-19, Australia was the most popular destination, attracting nearly half of New Zealand students.

Post-education outcomes

• New Zealand traditionally is characterised as having higher than average social and labour market outcomes across all levels of education, but smaller differences between the least and most educated. This is sometimes interpreted by some commentators as lower benefits of education, but may also reflect social, cultural and economic settings that act to reduce inequity.
• New Zealand has comparatively high employment rates regardless of level of educational attainment; in fact it is in the top five OECD countries in 2022. The strong labour market post COVID-19 has kept unemployment low and acted to reduce participation in upper-secondary and tertiary education. Our relatively higher employment rates amongst low-qualified people means the employment advantage in New Zealand of a tertiary education is smaller than it is in other OECD countries.
• Similarly, the earnings advantage in New Zealand of a tertiary education remains lower than that in other OECD countries. On this measure New Zealand has traditionally ranked in the bottom quarter of countries. While relative earnings for education are less than the OECD average, actual earnings are at or above the OECD average.
• Employment rate differences between men and women reduce with higher levels of education. In New Zealand, this gender gap for tertiary qualified people is seven percentage points – similar to the OECD average. The gap has been reducing across OECD countries over time, and the reduction in New Zealand has largely mirrored the OECD average.
• Since its 2011 edition, Education at a Glance has shown a positive association between education and many aspects of social well-being, including health, social connection, civic and community engagement, safety, subjective-well-being, and environmental protection. In this year’s edition it shows again the strong correlation between educational attainment and civic engagement. More highly educated adults are more likely to participate in a public demonstration, volunteer for a charity, boycott certain products, or post or share something about politics online and less likely to believe in conspiracy theories. Tertiary-educated adults are more likely to have taken actions to protect their privacy online.
• Some aspects of social well-being are not correlated with education. This year’s report shows that perceptions about the functioning of democracy are similar regardless of one’s level of educational attainment, and that, on average, individuals at all attainment levels have similar views on how the democratic process works.