How does New Zealand's education system compare? OECD's Education at a Glance 2021 Publications

Publication Details

This summary report, How Does New Zealand’s Education System Compare? OECD’s Education at a Glance, is an annual Ministry of Education publication designed to complement the release of the OCED’s Education at a Glance 2021 report. It contextualises and more closely examines how New Zealand’s education system compares, noting areas where it performed above or below OECD averages, and includes some information on how education systems around the world performed during COVID-19.

New Zealand’s data for Education at a Glance 2021 stems from four periods: educational attainment and labour market outcomes use 2020 data, education workforce uses 2019 and 2020 data, other education indicators use 2019 data, and financial indicators cover the 2017/2018 financial year.

Author(s): Kirsti Rawstron, Evidence Data & Knowledge, Ministry of Education.

Date Published: September 2021

Key Findings

From early childhood to adult education, Education at a Glance 2021 paints an overall picture of the comparative strengths of the New Zealand education system.

  • New Zealand sits above the OECD average in terms of our rates of 3-5 year olds who were enrolled in education in 2019
  • A higher percentage of New Zealand young adults had an upper secondary qualification in 2020 than the OECD average of 40%
  • Over 80% of New Zealand adults aged 25-64 years old had at least an upper secondary qualification in 2020, above the OECD average
  • New Zealand had a below average share of 18-24 year-olds that were not in education, employment or training in 2020
  • In 2019 international students made up about 20% of all diploma level and above students in New Zealand, above the OECD average of 6%
  • Employment rates in New Zealand for diploma-level and above educated young adults were higher than the OECD average in 2020
  • New Zealand has a higher percentage of female teachers at each level of education than the OECD average, and higher percentages of both teachers under the age of 30 and teachers aged 50 and above compared to the OECD averages in 2019
  • New Zealand spent 6.2% of our GDP on education in 2018, ranking us 4th within the OECD

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