Introduction

This page contains information on the number of students that attend school regularly.

Regular attendance at school, measures the percentage of students who have attended more than 90% of the term¹, Historically attendance data were collected for Term 2, however, from 2019 attendance data have been collected for each term.

During COVID-19 we are collecting weekly attendance data from early learning centres and schools.  This related work measures the number of people who turned up to school, rather than the proportion of time they were at school.  This data can be found at Attendance under COVID-19.

More information about the collection can be found on the Attendance Data Collection page.

Overview of attendance

In Term 2, 2020, 64.0% of students attended school regularly during the last 7 weeks of term², compared to 57.7% in Term 2, 2019.  This 6.3 percentage point recovery, following the end of the national COVID-19 lockdown, matches the drop in 2019.

Figure 1: The percentage of students attending school regularly increased in 2020

Attached is a simple summary of the attendance data.

Regular attendance time series data (2011-2020)

This spreadsheet provides attendance data broken down into a range of student demographics, school characteristics (such as decile), and regional variables.

Attendance data for Term 2 data is available from 2011. Data for terms 1, 3, and 4 are available from 2019.

Why is regular attendance important?

Attendance is linked to both student wellbeing and to attainment.

Student wellbeing is a key priority of the education system. Our education insights studies³ confirm that attending school regularly predicts the best outcomes for wellbeing on average. The Ministry found that reports by 15-year-old students of skipping a greater number of days in the previous fortnight of school predicted worse average outcomes relating to schoolwork-related anxiety, sense of belonging, bullying, racism and motivation,

Attendance is also linked to student attainment in secondary students. Recent research⁴ shows that each additional half day absence from school predicts a consistent reduction in the number of NCEA credits a student subsequently attains – whether that is the student moving from 100% to 99% attendance or moving from 71% to 70% attendance. Students who are absent even 5-10% of the time (still considered “regular” attendance) obtain fewer NCEA credits than those with slightly higher attendance. There is no “safe” level of non-attendance.

The measure

Percentage of students attending school regularly.

Numerator:

The total number of students who have attended more than 90% of all school time in Term 2, where time is measured in half-days.
(Data Source: Ministry of Education: Attendance Survey)

Denominator:

The total number of students enrolled for 30 half-days or more during Term 2, in each year, except 2020, which the minimum enrolled half-day is 1 during Term 2.
(Data Source: Ministry of Education: Attendance Survey)

Using the same half-days measure, irregular absence means students attended school more than 80% and up to 90% of term 2, moderate absence means students attended more than 70% and up to 80% and chronic absence means students attended 70% or less of the available school days.

Interpretation issues

The students whose ethnicity was recorded as "Unknown" or "Other", in 2020, have been reported as part of the total only.

Detailed attendance records are required for the analysis performed in this report, therefore only schools that can provide attendance data electronically are able to participate in this analysis. In earlier years, there were more schools that could not provide electronic extracts of their attendance data, and these schools were typically smaller primary schools. Therefore, the data in this analysis has become more representative over time, as more schools are able to provide this data.

Being present at school does not include justifiable (nor unjustifiable) absence from school but does include classes where a student is at school attending an appointment or on a school organized outing.

Footnotes

1. Attendance is measured in half-days.  A half-day is a minimum of two hours either before or after noon, contributing to the minimum four hours of school a day.
2. Due to the unusual circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the data reflects different circumstances than in previous years. In 2020 Term 2 was 12 weeks long, during the first 5 weeks all students. were engaged in home learning.  Attendance data were therefore only collected for the last 7 weeks of Term 2.
3. He Whakaaro: School attendance and student wellbeing, Ministry of Education, February 2020.
4. He Whakaaro: What is the relationship between attendance and attainment? Ministry of Education, February 2020