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:

He Whakaaro: The educational experiences of disabled learners Publications

Publication Details

New Zealand is committed to providing an inclusive education system, ensuring that disabled students are supported to achieve their potential, and can participate fully in society. To what extent have we achieved this? This research uses Statistics NZ’s Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI) to combine the 2013 Disability Survey with data collected from early learning and schools. We use these data to provide one of the first systematic descriptions of the experiences and outcomes of disabled learners in the New Zealand education system.

Author(s): Mercy Mhuru, Ministry of Education.

Date Published: June 2020

Key Findings

  • Prevalence of disability increases with age, from 8% of students of primary school age in 2017 to 15% of intermediate or secondary school age.
  • Prior participation rates in early childhood education are identical between disabled and non-disabled students.
  • Disabled students are between 1.5 and 3 times more likely than their non-disabled peers to be stood-down, suspended and frequently move schools.
  • There are only minor differences in attendance rates between disabled and non-disabled students, and most differences are medical-related.
  • About a quarter of younger disabled students and 40% of older disabled students report that it is difficult for them to play or make friends.
  • Disabled students are substantially more likely to receive Ministry-funded learning support than non-disabled students, but there are indications (from Ministry data and from parent reports) that many disabled students continue to have unmet needs.
  • Some groups of disabled students (such as those with non-cognitive mobility impairments) attain NCEA at rates on par with non-disabled students.
  • But as a group, disabled students are half as likely to attain NCEA Level 3 as non-disabled students, and more than twice as likely to attain no qualification at school.

Navigation

  • Publication Series
  • He Whakaaro

Downloads

  • Full Report (PDF, 381.5 KB)

Contact Us

Education Data Requests
If you have any questions about education data please contact us:
Email:   Requests EDK
Phone: +64 4 463 8065

Home Close Menu
  • Know your Region Show submenu
  • Communities of Learning Show submenu
  • Find your nearest school Show submenu
  • Early Learning Services Show submenu
  • Directories Show submenu
  • Publications Show submenu
    • Early Childhood EducationShow submenu
      • Responding to diverse cultures: Good practice in home-based early childhood servicesShow submenu
    • MāoriShow submenu
    • SchoolingShow submenu
    • PacificShow submenu
    • Tertiary EducationShow submenu
    • Learning SupportShow submenu
      • Learning Support Coordinators Evaluation: Phase 2Show submenu
    • InternationalShow submenu
    • Publication SeriesShow submenu
  • Indicators Show submenu
  • Statistics Show submenu
    • Annual Monitoring Reading RecoveryShow submenu
    • Attainment of 18-year-oldsShow submenu
    • AttendanceShow submenu
    • Attendance under COVID-19Show submenu
    • Beyond StudyShow submenu
    • Early Learning ParticipationShow submenu
    • ECE FinancesShow submenu
    • ECE ServicesShow submenu
    • ECE StaffingShow submenu
    • Early Leaving ExemptionsShow submenu
    • Entering & leaving teachingShow submenu
    • Fees Free tertiary educationShow submenu
    • Financial Support for Tertiary StudentsShow submenu
    • Funding to SchoolsShow submenu
    • HomeschoolingShow submenu
    • Initial Teacher Education StatisticsShow submenu
    • International students in NZShow submenu
    • Language use in ECEShow submenu
    • Literacy & NumeracyShow submenu
    • Māori Language in SchoolingShow submenu
    • NZ's Workplace-based LearnersShow submenu
    • Number of SchoolsShow submenu
    • Ongoing Resourcing SchemeShow submenu
    • Pacific Language in SchoolingShow submenu
    • Per Student Funding for SchoolsShow submenu
    • Post-compulsory education & trainingShow submenu
    • School BoardsShow submenu
    • School Board RepresentationShow submenu
    • School Leaver DestinationsShow submenu
    • School Leaver's AttainmentShow submenu
    • School RollsShow submenu
    • School Subject EnrolmentShow submenu
    • Stand-downs, suspensions, exclusions & expulsionsShow submenu
    • Teacher NumbersShow submenu
      • 2020Show submenu
    • Teacher TurnoverShow submenu
    • Tertiary Financial PerformanceShow submenu
    • Tertiary ParticipationShow submenu
    • Tertiary Population DataShow submenu
    • Tertiary ResearchShow submenu
    • Tertiary ResourcingShow submenu
    • Tertiary Achievement & AttainmentShow submenu
    • Tertiary Summary TablesShow submenu
    • Total public expenditure on educationShow submenu
    • Transient StudentsShow submenu
    • Vocational Education & TrainingShow submenu
  • Topics Show submenu
  • Data Services Show submenu

Site information

  • Site map
  • Contact us
  • Feedback
  • About this site
  • Glossary
  • Accessibility
  • Copyright, Legal & Privacy
  • Links
  • © Education Counts 2022
  • Ministry of Education logo.
  • New Zealand Government logo.
Scroll to top of page