School leaver's attainment
This is a comprehensive measure that includes all New Zealand secondary students at a distinct point of time in every student’s schooling life, namely when they finish school. This is the main reporting measure for the Ministry of Education. School leaver data forms the basis of a number of measures, including highest attainment, school leaver destinations (when combined with tertiary data), and retention at school.
Last Updated: July 2023
Introduction
School leavers is our main measure of secondary student attainment. This is a comprehensive measure. It focuses on a distinct point of time in every student’s schooling life, namely when they finish school. As such this measure in theory captures all students. And while it is based on NCEA results the measure also captures attainment information on students using other assessments including, Cambridge International Assessment, and International Baccalaureate. More information about this collection can be found on the School Leavers Data Collection page.
In 2022 the overall rates of attainment of NCEA decreased, with larger decreases at NCEA Level 3 or above, and NCEA level 2 or above.
The proportion of students who have remained at school until at least 17 years of age decreased from 2021 to 2022. The school leaver retention rate in 2022 is lower than it has been in the 10 years since 2012.
The lower retention rate in 2022 is likely affected by increased cost of living, and the strong labour market, disruption to learning due to Covid-19 and decreased attendance.
Schools were open for most of 2022, but teaching time was affected by Covid-19, due to higher rates of absence due to illness among both teachers and students. In recognition of lost time for learning and assessment the requirements for NCEA and UE were amended and learning recognition credits were awarded. These changes were designed to support students to engage in and progress with their assessed learning, whilst maintaining the integrity and credibility of the qualification.
Indicators
School leaver data forms the basis of a number of measures, including highest attainment, school leaver destinations (when combined with tertiary data), and retention at school. For a simple summary of each of these measures please read the appropriate education sector indicator.
- Indicator: School Leavers with NCEA Level 1 or Above (2022) [PDF 622kB]
- Indicator: School Leavers with NCEA Level 2 or Above (2022) [PDF 622kB]
- Indicator: School Leavers with NCEA Level 3 and University Entrance (2022) [PDF 640kB]
- Indicator: School Leaver Destinations (2022) [PDF 655kB]
- Indicator: Vocational Pathways Award (2022) [PDF 634kB]
- Indicator: Retention of students in senior secondary schools (2022) [PDF 722kB]
Interactive Dashboard
The buttons at the top of the dashboard control what is on the bottom axis of the graph. To filter the data use any of the Region, School or Student filters on the left. To switch between the filters use the buttons titled "Region", "School" and "Student". By default the dashboard only shows data from the most recent year. To select other years use the dropdown in the top left (under “Filters”).
Ethnicity shows the ethnic group or groups a student identifies with. For school leaver data this is total response, that is, leavers are counted in each ethnic group they identify with. This means that you cannot sum the different ethnic groups to get a total as some students will be counted multiple times. To avoid this we have added a Total value for ethnicity, where individuals are only counted once. By default Ethnicity is set to Total.
You can expand the dashboard by pressing the ⤢ icon in the bottom right corner of the dashboard.
Read the instructions (pdf 77kB) for more guidance on using the July School Roll Return dashboard.
Time Series Data
These spreadsheets provide numbers and percentages of students by different highest attainment levels for a range of dimensions (such as region, school authority, ethnicity) across time in a simple, easy to use format.
- Time Series Data: School Leavers with NCEA Level 1 or Above (2012-2022) [MS Excel 57kB]
- Time Series Data: School Leavers with NCEA Level 1 Literacy and Numeracy (2012-2022) [MS Excel 61kB]
- Time Series Data: School Leavers with NCEA Level 2 or Above (2012-2022) [MS Excel 64kB]
- Time Series Data: School Leavers with NCEA Level 3 or Above (2012-2022) [MS Excel 59kB]
- Time Series Data: School Leaver Destination (2014-2021) [MS Excel 65kB]
- Time Series Data: Vocational Pathways (2013-2022) [MS Excel 81kB]
- Time Series Data: School Leavers Retention (2012-2022) [MS Excel 56kB]
- Time Series Data: Māori School Leavers Attainment (2012-2022) [MS Excel 27kB]
Pivot Tables
This pivot table allows you to create your own tables by any combination of variables. Includes the option of displaying number of school leavers by highest attainment for a range of variables, such as, region, school authority, and ethnicity.
- Pivot Tables: School Leavers (2012-2022) [MS Excel 7mB]
- Pivot Tables: Vocational Pathways (2013-2022) [MS Excel 21mB]
Machine Readable Data
The following data have been provided in a format (csv) that can easily be processed by a computer. It contains the same data that are in the school leaver pivot table.
- Machine Readable: School Leavers (2012-2022) [Zipped File 5.7mB]
School Leaver Data Technical Notes
The Measures
Indicator Definition: School leavers with NCEA level 1 or above
Percentage of school leavers with NCEA level 1 or above
Numerator:
The total number of school leavers who attained:
- NCEA Level 1 or other Level 1 NQF qualification; or
- A non-NQF award at the equivalent of NCEA level 1 including Accelerated Christian Education (ACE), International Baccalaureate ( IB) or Cambridge International exams (CIE), or another overseas award at Year 11;
- 30 credits at Level 2 or higher
- NCEA Level 2 or other Level 2 NQF qualification; or
- A non-NQF award at the equivalent of NCEA level 2 including Accelerated Christian Education (ACE), International Baccalaureate ( IB) or Cambridge International exams (CIE), or another overseas award at Year 12;
- 30 credits at Level 3 or higher
- NCEA Level 3 or other Level 3 NQF Qualification; or
- A non-NQF award at the equivalent of NCEA level 3 including Accelerated Christian Education (ACE), International Baccalaureate ( IB) or Cambridge International exams (CIE), or another overseas award at Year 13;
- NZ Scholarship or National Certificate at Level 4 or above
as at the end of the school leaver year (ie. 1 March 2022 for the 2021 school leaver year).
The highest qualification status for each student is obtained from NZQA. Where a student achieved a non-NQF qualification, highest attainment information is obtained directly from their school.
(Data Source: Ministry of Education: ENROL)
Denominator:
The total number of school leavers in a given school year.
(Data Source: Ministry of Education: ENROL)
Indicator Definition: School leavers with NCEA level 2 or above
Percentage of school leavers with NCEA level 2 or above
Numerator:
The total number of school leavers who attained:
- NCEA Level 2 or other Level 2 NQF qualification; or
- A non-NQF award at the equivalent of NCEA level 2 including Accelerated Christian Education (ACE), International Baccalaureate ( IB) or Cambridge International exams (CIE), or another overseas award at Year 12;
- National Certificate Level 3 (NCEA level 3); or
- A non-NQF award at the equivalent of NCEA level 3 including Accelerated Christian Education (ACE), International Baccalaureate ( IB) or Cambridge International exams (CIE), or another overseas award at Year 13;
- NZ Scholarship or National Certificate at Level 4 or above
- 30 credits at Level 3 or higher
as at the end of the school leaver year (ie. 1 March 2023 for the 2022 school leaver year).
The highest qualification status for each student is obtained from NZQA. Where a student achieved a non-NQF qualification, highest attainment information is obtained directly from their school
(Data Source: Ministry of Education: ENROL)
Denominator:
The total number of school leavers in a given school year.
(Data Source: Ministry of Education: ENROL)
Indicator Definition: School leavers with NCEA level 3 and above
School leavers with at least a level 3 qualification or university entrance award.
Numerator:
The total number of school leavers who attained:
- A NZQA University Entrance award; or
- National Certificate Level 3 (NCEA level 3); or
- A non-NQF award at the equivalent of NCEA level 3 or University Entrance award including Accelerated Christian Education (ACE), International Baccalaureate ( IB) or Cambridge International exams (CIE), or another overseas award at Year 13;
- NZ Scholarship or National Certificate Level 4,
as at the time they left school in a given school year.
The highest qualification status for each student is obtained from NZQA. Where a student achieved a non-NQF qualification, highest attainment information is obtained directly from their school.
(Data Source: Ministry of Education: ENROL)
Denominator:
The total number of school leavers in a given school year.
(Data Source: Ministry of Education: ENROL)
Indicator Definition: School leaver destinations
Percentage of school leavers by tertiary destination
Numerator:
The total number of school leavers enrolled in formal provider-based study, industry training, Modern Apprenticeships and targeted training programmes within three years of leaving school.
Denominator:
The total number of domestic school leavers in a given year.
(Data Source: Ministry of Education: ENROL)
Indicator Definition: Vocational Pathways Award
For this indicator, two different measures are used. The first is the percentage of school leavers who have achieved one or more Vocational Pathways Award, regardless of award type. This indicator is used to show trends over time in the proportion of leavers with a Vocational Pathways Award, differences in attainment between groups by student ethnicity, age and gender and by school quintile and location.
The second is the distribution of Vocational Pathways Award by type, among school leavers who have achieved at least one Vocational Pathways Award. This is used to show how common each award type is, and to show differences in the award types most common among different groups by ethnicity and gender.
Proportion of all students with one or more Vocational Pathways Award
Numerator
The total number of school leavers who had attained one or more Vocational Pathways Award, meaning that they have achieved:
- NCEA Level Two
- A minimum of 60 NCEA Level Two credits classified as Recommended for the Vocational Pathway of which at least 20 must be classified as ‘Sector Related’
as at the end of the school leaver year (ie. 28 Feb 2023 for the 2022 school leaver year).This means that students who do not go through the NCEA qualification system, e.g. a non-NQF award such as Cambridge International exams, cannot meet the criteria for an award. Students who have achieved more than one award are counted against each award type that they have received, but only once in the total.
(Data Source: NZQA Learner Business Data Store)
Denominator:
The total number of school leavers in a given school year.
(Data Source: Ministry of Education: ENROL)
Distribution of Vocational Pathways Award by type
Numerator:
The total number of school leavers who have attained the Vocational Pathways Award. e.g. number of school leavers in 2019 who had attained a Creative Industries award.
(Data Source: NZQA Learner Business Data Store)
Denominator:
The total number of school leavers who had attained one or more Vocational Pathways Award.
(Data Source: NZQA Learner Business Data Store)
Indicator Definition: Retention of students in senior secondary schools
Numerator:
Total number of school leavers aged 17 or above in a given year excluding foreign fee-paying students.
(Data Source: Ministry of Education: ENROL Database)
Denominator:
Total number of school leavers in a given year excluding foreign fee-paying students.
(Data Source: Ministry of Education: ENROL Database)
Māori language levels, levels of immersion available in New Zealand schools:
Māori Language Learning describes students being taught at different levels of Māori instruction. Each level is defined by the proportion of time the student is taught using Te Reo Māori.
Based on Māori Language Learning levels, school leaver data identifies students who, when they left school, were:
- Predominantly learning in te reo Māori. That is, were in Māori Language Learning levels 1 or 2.
- Predominantly learning in English. That is, were in Māori Language Learning levels 3 – 6, or with no Māori language in education.
- Level 1: 81-100%: Curriculum is taught in Māori for more than 20 and up to 25 hours a week.
- Level 2: 51-80%: Curriculum is taught in Māori for more than 12.5 and up to 20 hours a week.
- Level 3: 31-50%: Curriculum is taught in Māori for more than 7.5 and up to 12.5 hours a week.
- Level 4(a) 12-30%: Curriculum is taught in Māori for more than 3 and up to 7.5 hours a week.
- Level 4(b) At least 3 hours: Students are learning Te Reo Māori as a separate subject for at least 3 hours a week.
- Level 5 Less than 3 hours: Students are learning Te Reo Māori as a separate subject for less than 3 hours a week.
- Level 6 Taha Māori: Students learn Māori songs, greetings, and simple words.
- No Māori Language Education: Students in school roll not recorded at any level of Māori Language Learning.
- Not Applicable: Māori language in Education information is not collected for these students.
Inclusive and exclusive criteria
School leavers in 2022 are students that permanently left school to enter the workforce and/or undertake further education and training sometime between 1 March 2022 and the last day of February 2023 (inclusive). School leavers are identified using ENROL. Students counted as school leavers are:
- Domestic students who were aged less than 19 in their first enrolment in ENROL; including alternative education students, students 15 or over before 1 March 2023 and students attending teen parent units.
- Students with leave reason; 'end of schooling' or 'early leaving exemption'
- Students with leave reason 'transferred to another school in New Zealand' or 'transferred to home schooling' but did not reenrol in ENROL
- Students with leave reason 'gone overseas permanently', who meet the age criteria
- Students who attend for a period of time at the start of 2023 but leave before 1 March 2023 are counted with 2022 leavers.
This excludes:
- Returning students (aged 19 or more) with a gap in their attendance
- Exchange students
- International fee-paying students
- Students who successfully transferred to home schooling or another school in New Zealand
- Deceased students
Alternative education students are counted with the school that enrolled them in alternative education, this may not be the school that manages their enrolment while they are in alternative education. This is to reflect that the enrolling school is responsible for ensuring the students’ education needs are met.
Interpretation Issues
Literacy and Numeracy: In 2013, students were required to obtain 10 literacy and 10 numeracy credits at level 1 to achieve an NCEA Level 1 qualification. This is an increase on the 8 credits previously required to achieve NCEA Level 1. No historical adjustment has been made for this change.
University Entrance Award requirements: A change in the requirements for the University Entrance Award came into effect in 2014. This strengthening of the requirements means care needs to be taken when comparing results before 2014 with 2014 onwards.
Ethnicity: Total response ethnicity has been used for school levers. Total response ethnicity is when people who have been identified in more than one ethnic group have been counted in each ethnic group. For the New Zealand total, individuals are counted only once.
For this data European/Pākehā refers to people who affiliate as New Zealand European, Other European or European (not further defined). For example, this includes and is not limited to people who consider themselves as Australian (excluding Australian Aborigines), British and Irish, American, Spanish, and Ukrainian.
School Data Dimension Notes
The dimensions are:
Student Age:
The age of the student (in years) as at their last day of attendance. Students are legally required to attend schooling until age 16, unless they are granted early leaving exemption. However, a number of students are aged 15 on their last day of attendance and turn 16 during school holidays.
Student Gender:
The gender of the students, as recorded in ENROL.
Ethnic Group:
The ethnic group(s) the student identifies with, as recorded in ENROL. The ethnic group data is presented at level 1 and total response. That is, leavers are counted once in each ethnic group they identify with.
Students can be counted in up to three different ethnic groups but only once in the total, therefore the sum of the different ethnic groups will likely exceed the total. Ethnic groups should not be combined as some students will be counted twice.
School Sector:
Schools are grouped (by school type) into four main sectors of schooling education: Secondary, Composite, Special, and Not Applicable.
Not applicable includes students in Homeschooling, special education leavers from primary schools, and students with no school sector information available.
School Type:
The type of the school, for example, Composite (Year 1 to 15), Secondary (Year 7 to 15), Secondary (Year 9 to 15) the leaver left from.
Not applicable includes students in Homeschooling, special education leavers from primary schools, and students with no school type information available.
School Authority:
The ownership of the school for example State, State-Integrated, and Private.
School Gender:
The gender of the students that a school caters for, for example, co-educational, or single sex. A small number of single sex schools can have some students of the opposite sex on their roll. These students can only access the education they need at these 'opposite sex' schools i.e. adults or special needs students.
Decile:
The decile assigned to the school. Students from low socio-economic communities face more barriers to learning than students from high socio-economic communities. Schools that draw their roll from these low socio-economic communities are given greater funding to combat these barriers. The mechanism used to calculate and allocate this additional funding is most often known as school deciles.
Schools are assigned a socio-economic score based on five census derived socio-economic factors. Decile 1 schools are the 10% of schools with the greatest proportion of students from the most socio-economically deprived areas. Decile 10 schools are the 10% of schools with the greatest proportion of students from the least socio-economically deprived areas.
Education Region:
The education region the school of the student is located in. These are ten administrative regions created by the Ministry of Education and aligned with the Ministry's ten local offices.
Not Applicable includes students attending homeschooling, students whose school campus covers more than one region, and students with no regional information available. The Correspondence School is defined as a separate boundary.
Regional Council:
The regional council area the school of the student is located in. Regional council boundaries are defined by Statistics New Zealand. Not Applicable includes students whose school campus covers more than one region, and students with no regional information available. The correspondence school is defined as a separate boundary.
Territorial Authority:
The territorial authority area the school of the student is located in. Territorial authority boundaries are defined by Statistics New Zealand. Please note that Auckland Territorial Authority is further broken down into local board. Not Applicable includes students whose school campus covers more than one region, and students with no regional information available. The correspondence school is defined as a separate boundary.