Destinations Publications
Where students go after study, including to employment, further study, overseas, or other destinations.
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The mobility patterns of New Zealand's doctoral graduates
This report examines the mobility patterns of doctoral graduates who completed their degrees in New Zealand between 2005 and 2023. It explores how many domestic doctoral graduates leave New Zealand, how many come back and how many remain overseas. It…
Author(s): Asaad Ali, Tertiary System Performance Analysis, Ministry of Education
Date Published: December 2025
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A review of the New Zealand evidence on the benefits of tertiary education
What does existing evidence say about the benefits of tertiary education in New Zealand? This report reviews the body of New Zealand research on this question and aims to summarise what we know and don’t know so well. It aims…
Author(s): David Scott, Tertiary Sector Performance Analysis, Ministry of Education
Date Published: August 2025
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Rangatahi Māori who were aged 15 years in 2009 - their income up to age 28
This report is the second in a series on educational outcomes for rangatahi Māori. It focuses on a cohort of 13,340 rangatahi Māori who were aged 15 years in 2009 and living in Aotearoa New Zealand in 2022. The report…
Author(s): Nicola Marshall and Dee Earle, Tertiary System Performance Analysis, Ministry of Education
Date Published: August 2025
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Recent trends in school leavers going overseas
Are our highest achieving school leavers increasingly choosing to do their tertiary studies overseas? This paper looks at the recent trends in the data to see if this is true and discusses some of the potential policy implications.…
Author(s): David Scott, Tertiary System Performance Analysis, Ministry of Education
Date Published: April 2025
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Who stayed working and who retired? 2018-2023
This report looks at recent patterns of older people staying in work or retiring. It takes the population aged between 60 and 75 in 2018 and follows them to 2023 when they were aged 65 to 80. It aims to…
Author(s): Paul Satherley, Senior Research Analyst, Ministry of Education
Date Published: September 2024
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Rangatahi Māori who were aged 15 years in 2009 – their educational achievement, participation in education and employment up to 2022
This report is the first in a series on educational outcomes for rangatahi Māori. It focuses on a cohort of 15,400 rangatahi Māori who were aged 15 years in 2009 and looks at their educational achievement and patterns of participation…
Author(s): Nicola Marshall and Dee Earle, Tertiary System Performance Analysis, Ministry of Education.
Date Published: June 2024
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Do students come back? An analysis of regional flows of student travel after tertiary study
This report examines the mobility of a cohort of former school leavers after their tertiary study. It looks at where school leavers live, and what are they doing, seven years after enrolling in tertiary study at public tertiary institutions: wānanga,…
Author(s): Gabriele Frigerio Porta, Tertiary System Performance Analysis, Ministry of Education
Date Published: May 2024
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15-year-olds in 2009, their educational achievement, where they went and what they earned over the next decade
This report follows the education and earnings of 15 year-olds in 2009, over a decade until they were 24 or 25. It is intended as a postscript to the report Education and earnings, A New Zealand update which provides a…
Author(s): David Scott, Tertiary Sector Performance Analysis, Ministry of Education.
Date Published: September 2020
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Post-school labour-market outcomes of school-based NCEA
This report presents some basic statistics on what happens to school leavers in the first few years after school, and what difference school-based NCEA makes on post-school labour market outcomes.…
Author(s): David Scott, Tertiary Sector Performance Analysis, Ministry of Education.
Date Published: September 2018
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Destinations and employment outcomes of young, international graduates
This series of factsheets and associated data tables provide information on outcomes for young, international students who complete a qualification at a government-funded tertiary education provider in New Zealand. They look at how many of these graduates do further study,…
Author(s): Tertiary Sector Performance Analysis, Ministry of Education
Date Published: December 2017
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Profile & Trends 2016: Tertiary Education Outcomes and Qualification Completions [Part 2 of 6]
This is edition 19 in an annual series on the tertiary education sector. Tertiary Education Outcomes and Qualification Completions is the second of six reports to be published in the Profile and Trends 2016 series. The key findings of Tertiary…
Author(s): Tertiary Sector Performance Analysis, Ministry of Education.
Date Published: September 2017
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The post-study earnings and destinations of young, domestic graduates
This series of fact sheets and associated data tables provide information on the outcomes for young people who complete a qualification at a tertiary education provider in the New Zealand tertiary education system. They look at differences in earnings and…
Author(s): Tertiary Sector Performance Analysis, Ministry of Education
Date Published: June 2017
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Moving places: Destinations and earnings of international graduates
International students play an important role in New Zealand through the contribution they make to New Zealand’s economy, the diversity they bring to New Zealand and its education system, and the lifetime links that are created between their country and…
Author(s): Zaneta Park, Tertiary Sector Performance Analysis, Ministry of Education
Date Published: February 2017
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Profile & Trends 2015: Tertiary Education Outcomes and Qualification Completions [Part 2 of 6]
This is edition 18 in an annual series on the tertiary education sector. Tertiary Education Outcomes and Qualification Completions is the second of six reports to be published in the Profile and Trends 2015 series. The key findings of Tertiary…
Author(s): Tertiary Sector Performance Analysis, Ministry of Education.
Date Published: August 2016
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School to work: What matters? Education and Employment of Young People Born in 1991
This study explores the education and employment experiences of young people born in 1991. The main purpose of the study is to explore the kinds of employment and labour market measures that can be derived from data in Statistics New…
Author(s): Dee Earle, Tertiary Sector Performance Analysis, Ministry of Education
Date Published: June 2016
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Profile & Trends 2014: Tertiary Education Outcomes and Qualification Completions [Part 4 of 5]
This is edition 17 in an annual series on the tertiary education sector. Profile & Trends 2014: Tertiary Education Outcomes and Qualification Completions is the fourth of five new annual reports that, together, constitute the Ministry of Education's annual publication…
Author(s): Tertiary Sector Performance Analysis, Ministry of Education.
Date Published: December 2015
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What young graduates do when they leave study
This report focuses on the destinations of young domestic graduates. It complements our recent publication 'What young graduates earn when they leave study' which looks at the earnings of young graduates who remain in New Zealand. In this report, we…
Author(s): Zaneta Park, Tertiary Sector Performance Analysis, Ministry of Education.
Date Published: June 2014
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The outcomes of tertiary education for Māori graduates
This report looks at the earnings and outcomes for young Māori and non-Māori who complete a qualification in the New Zealand tertiary education system. It replicates the methodology of Moving on up – what young people earn after their tertiary…
Author(s): Paul Mahoney, Tertiary Sector Performance Analysis, Ministry of Education
Date Published: June 2014
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The outcomes of tertiary education for Pasifika graduates
This report looks at the earnings and outcomes for young Pasifika and non-Pasifika who complete a qualification in the New Zealand tertiary education system. It replicates the methodology of Moving on up – what young people earn after their tertiary…
Author(s): Paul Mahoney, Tertiary Sector Performance Analysis, Ministry of Education
Date Published: June 2014
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Going abroad: What do we know about people going overseas after tertiary study?
This report looks at people who used the Student Loan Scheme while undertaking tertiary study, and then went overseas. It profiles those overseas and looks at the characteristics of those who return to New Zealand and of those who stay…
Author(s): Roger Smyth, Tertiary Sector Performance Analysis, Ministry of Education and Deborah Spackman, Statistics New Zealand.
Date Published: January 2012
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