Domestic students enrolled in ITE for the first time

Overall trends (see Figure 1 and 2) Last Updated: July 2022

Overall

Between 2020 and 2021, the number of domestic students enrolling in an ITE qualification for the first time increased by 26 percent to reach 5,235. This represented an increase of 1,065 students. When looking at the indicative teaching sector this was the result of:

• an increase of 22 percent in ECE ITE students (an increase of 295 students),
• an increase of 25 percent in primary ITE students (an increase of 485 students)
• an increase of 30 percent in secondary ITE students (an increase of 265 students)

The large increase in first-time ITE domestic students in 2021 across all the indicative teaching sectors likely reflects the impact of COVID-19 and students seeking to enrol in ‘safe haven’ programmes during times of economic uncertainty and border closures.

There was also a decrease of 20 percent in Māori medium ITE students which represented a decrease of 50 students (these students are already included in the sector data above).

ECE

The increase in first-time domestic ECE students in 2021 was the third time in the last four years where enrolments increased. As a result, the number of first-time domestic students is now 33 percent above the low point in 2017. This recent increase in domestic first-time students followed a period of several years where numbers declined from a peak in 2010 that coincided with the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) and funding changes in the ECE sector.

Primary

The numbers of primary ITE students had declined in the years following the high rates of participation in tertiary education during the GFC and reached a low point in 2016. But as a result of the large increase in 2021, the number of first-time domestic primary students in 2021 represented the highest number since 2010.

Secondary

The large increase in domestic first-time secondary ITE students in 2021 followed four years of relative stability in enrolment levels. The increase in 2021 has seen first-time enrolments rise to their highest level since 2012 and these are now 43 percent above the low point in 2016.

Figure 1: Number of domestic students enrolling in ITE for the first time by indicative teaching sector

Note: where students enrol in or complete an ITE qualification which prepares them to teach in more than one sector, we report them in each of these sectors.

Māori medium

In 2021, the number of first-time ITE Māori medium students decreased by 20 percent to reach 200. This followed an increase of 22 percent in 2020 and a decrease of 23 percent in 2019. These large swings in the number of starters are due in part to the relatively small numbers involved in Māori medium ITE.

In 2021, well over half (68 percent) of Māori medium first-time ITE students were enrolled in immersion programmes.

The vast majority of Māori medium first-time ITE students were enrolled in programmes at the primary sector level. In 2021, 98 percent of first-time students were enrolled in primary programmes. The remaining students were enrolled in programmes at the ECE level.

Domestic students enrolled in Māori medium ITE qualifications

Figure 2: Number of students enrolling in Māori medium ITE qualifications who were enrolling in ITE for the first time, by indicative teaching sector

Demographic characteristics (see Figures 3-5)

Over time, first-time ITE students have generally been getting younger (under 35 years) in the ECE sector. In 2021, 78 percent of first-time ECE students were aged under 35 years, compared with 67 percent in 2010. In the primary sector, the proportion of first-time students aged under 35 increased from 77 percent in 2020 to 82 percent in 2021 In the secondary sector, the proportion of first-time students aged under 35 was 78 percent in 2021, down from 83 percent in 2015.

First-time students in the ECE sector were almost exclusively women (96 percent in 2021), with lower proportions of women in the primary (82 percent in 2021) and secondary sectors (58 percent in 2021). These proportions have not changed significantly over time.

The proportion of first-time domestic students who were Māori was relatively stable in the ECE and secondary sectors in 2021, while there was a decrease in the proportion of primary ITE students who were Māori. In 2021, 15 percent of ECE first-time students were Māori compared with 16 percent in 2020, while the proportion of secondary ITE students who were Māori was up slightly to 14 percent in 2021 from 13 percent in 2020. In the primary sector, the proportion of first-time students who were Māori was 23 percent in 2021, compared with 26 percent in 2020.

The low number of first-time students who are Pacific People makes identifying trends difficult. But, over the last four years the proportion of first-time students in the ECE and secondary sectors has remained relatively stable, while the proportion of Pacific Peoples in primary ITE decreased to 8 percent in 2021 after being 10 percent for the preceding three years.

Figure 3: Age distribution of domestic students enrolling in ITE for the first time by indicative teaching sector

Figure 4: Gender distribution of domestic students enrolling in ITE for the first time by indicative teaching sector

Figure 5: Ethnic group distribution of domestic students enrolling in ITE for the first time by indicative teaching sector

Study-related characteristics (see Figures 6 and 7)

With the phasing out of diploma-level qualifications, the majority of first-time students in the ECE and primary sectors study at the bachelors degree level. In 2021, 75 percent of ECE students and 62 percent of primary students were enrolled in bachelors degrees. In the secondary sector, bachelors degree provision has decreased in recent years so that now first-time students are enrolled exclusively at the graduate diploma, postgraduate diploma, and masters degree level.

Since the last of the colleges of education (CoEs) were merged with them in the mid-2000s, universities have dominated first-time ITE student provision in the primary and secondary teaching sectors. In 2021, 87 percent of primary sector students and 90 percent of secondary sector students were studying at universities. Provision in the ECE sector is more evenly distributed, with private training establishments (PTEs) having the largest proportion of first-time students in this sector in 2021 (55 percent) followed by Te Pūkenga and universities (both 22 percent).

In 2021, 47 percent of first-time ECE students studied on an extramural basis, compared with 22 percent of primary students and 24 percent of secondary students.

In 2021, almost all first-time primary sector students were studying full-time (95 percent), compared with 91 percent of students in the secondary sector and 74 percent in the ECE sector.

In line with the increase in ITE students seen at the national level, the number of first-time domestic ITE students also increased in all broad regions of study in 2021. The data shows that the fastest rate of growth in students was in the South Island (31%) followed by Auckland (30%) and the Rest of the North Island (20%).

Figure 6: Distribution of domestic students enrolling in ITE for the first time by qualification type and indicative teaching sector

Figure 7: Distribution of domestic students enrolling in ITE for the first time by sub-sector and indicative teaching sector

International students enrolled in ITE for the first time

After increasing each year between 2014 and 2020, the number of first-time international students decreased by 2.1 percent in 2021. In 2021, around 92 percent of first-time international students were enrolled in an ECE qualification.

Domestic students completing an ITE qualification for the first time

Overall trends (see Figures 8 and 9) Last Updated: July 2022

Overall

Between 2020 and 2021 the number of domestic students completing their first ITE qualification increased by 26 percent to reach 4,065 (an increase of 850). This was the result of:

• an increase of 23 percent in early childhood education (ECE) ITE graduates (an increase of 230)

• an increase of 32 percent in primary ITE graduates (an increase of 435)
• an increase of 23 percent in secondary ITE graduates (an increase of 185)

There was also an increase of 13 percent in Māori medium ITE graduates which represented an increase of 15 (these graduates are already included in the sector data above).

ECE

The number of first-time domestic ECE ITE graduates in 2021 (1,240) represented the highest number of graduates since 2015.

Primary

The number of first-time domestic primary ITE graduates reached 1,815 in 2021, an increase of 32 percent on the previous year. However, the size of the increase in primary ITE in 2021 is likely impacted by timing issues around the completion of qualification requirements. In some cases, students enrolled in one-year programmes in 2020 have had completions reported in the 2021 year. So the scale of decrease in 2020 (-10 percent) and the scale of increase in 2021 (+32 percent) is likely overstated for primary ITE.

Secondary

The large increase in domestic first-time secondary ITE graduates in 2021 (up 185) saw the number of graduates increase to over 1,000 for the first time since 2012.

Figure 8: Number of domestic students completing an ITE qualification for the first time by indicative teaching sector

Note: where students enrol in or complete an ITE qualification which prepares them to teach in more than one sector, we report them in each of these sectors.

Māori medium

In 2021, the number of first-time ITE Māori medium graduates increased by 13 percent to reach 135 (an increase of 15). This followed a decrease of 65 graduates in 2020.

In 2021, 59 percent of graduates were from immersion programmes.

In 2021, 96 percent of graduates were in primary sector programmes. The remaining students were in ECE-level programmes.

Figure 9: Number of domestic students completing Māori medium ITE qualifications who were completing their first ITE qualification

Demographic characteristics by teaching sector (see Figures 10-12)

First-time ITE graduates have generally been getting younger in the ECE sector. The proportion of ECE graduates aged under 35 years has increased from 53 percent in 2007 to 71 percent in 2021. In the last five years, the proportion of graduates aged under 35 in primary ITE has been relatively constant at around 77 percent. In secondary ITE, the proportion of graduates aged under 35 had decreased from 80 percent in 2020 to 76 percent in 2021.

First-time graduates in the ECE sector were almost exclusively women (97 percent in 2021). But women were relatively smaller proportions, but still majorities, of primary (84 percent in 2021) and secondary (59 percent in 2021) sector graduates.

In 2021, the proportion of ITE graduates who were Māori increased in the ECE (from 13 percent in 2020 to 16 percent in 2021) and secondary sectors (from 12 percent in 2020 to 13 percent in 2021), while the proportion of Māori in primary decreased slightly from 22 percent in 2020 to 21 percent in 2021. Of the three teaching sectors, primary ITE (21 percent) has the highest proportion of Māori graduates in 2021.

The low number of first-time graduates who are Pacific People makes identifying trends difficult. In 2021, the proportion of graduates who were Pacific People was relatively unchanged in the ECE sector (7.4 percent in 20202 and 7.3 percent in 2021), while the proportion decreased in primary ITE (from 8.7 percent in 2020 to 7.7 percent in 2021) and secondary ITE (from 7.9 percent in 2020 to 6.0 percent in 2021). In 2021, primary ITE had the highest proportion of Pacific People graduates (7.7 percent).

Figure 10: Age distribution of domestic students completing an ITE qualification for the first time by indicative teaching sector

Figure 11: Gender distribution of domestic students completing an ITE qualification for the first time by indicative teaching sector

Figure 12: Ethnic group distribution of domestic students completing an ITE qualification for the first time by indicative teaching sector

Study-related characteristics by teaching sector (see Figures 13 and 14)

In the ECE and primary sectors, although the majority of first-time ITE graduates now complete bachelors degrees, the proportion has generally been declining over the last six years. In 2021, 72 percent of ECE graduates completed an ITE bachelors degree, compared with 84 percent in 2016. In primary ITE, 51 percent of graduates completed a bachelors degree, down from 66 percent in 2014. In secondary ITE, first-time graduates mainly complete graduate diplomas, postgraduate diplomas and masters degrees. In 2021, 79 percent competed graduate diplomas and 15 percent completed masters degrees.

Universities continue to produce the vast majority of first-time graduates in primary and secondary ITE. In 2021, 91 percent of graduates in primary and 90 percent in secondary were from universities. PTEs now produce the largest number of first-time ECE graduates. In 2021, 58 percent of ECE graduates were from PTEs, compared with 23 percent from universities and 19 percent from Te Pūkenga.

Figure 13: Distribution of domestic students completing an ITE qualification for the first time by type of qualification and indicative teaching sector

Figure 14: Distribution of domestic students completing an ITE qualification for the first time by sub-sector and indicative teaching sector

In line with the increase in ITE graduates seen at the national level, the number of first-time domestic ITE graduates also increased in all broad regions of study in 2021. The data shows that the fastest rate of growth in graduates was in the Auckland region (27%) followed by the Rest of North Island (20%) and the South Island (20%).

Across the curriculum subject areas that secondary ITE graduates have studied to teach at school, in line with the large increase in completions in 2021, eight of the nine broad subject areas had an increase in graduates between 2020 and 2021. The only broad subject area to show a decrease was The Arts.

The largest changes in the distribution of the broad teaching subjects between 2020 and 2021 was an increase in share from 9 percent to 13 percent in Technology, while there were decreases in share for Science (21 percent to 18 percent) and The Arts (18 percent to 13 percent).

At the more detailed subject level, the data shows the biggest change related to an increase in graduates in Social Studies in 2021 (which followed a large decrease the previous year) along with an increase in Technology/Applied Science.

International students completing an ITE qualification for the first time

The number of first-time ITE international graduates with an ITE qualification increased by 7.5 percent in 2021 to reach 575 (an increase of 40). Of these 2021 graduates, 91 percent were in the ECE sector.

Technical Notes

How do these initial teacher education (ITE) statistics differ from other field of study data published by the Ministry of Education?

Although the Ministry of Education publishes other enrolment and graduate data for students who studied in the field of education, the ITE statistics exclude qualifications that do not lead to provisional teacher registration (such as certificates that are preparatory qualifications). In doing so, the initial teacher education statistics present a more accurate picture of teacher training in New Zealand.

Determining the likely sector of teaching of initial teacher education students/graduates

Using the administrative data reported to the Ministry of Education by tertiary education providers, the following process was used to determine the likely sector of teaching (early childhood education (ECE), primary, or secondary) for each student/graduate:

Step 1:

The New Zealand Classification of Education (NZSCED) code for the initial teacher education qualification the student was enrolled in (or completed) was used to map the qualification to a sector of teaching. The mapping used is presented in Table 1. For example, a student enrolled in or completing a qualification with an NZSCED code of 070101, 070118, or 070120, was assigned to the ECE sector.

Step 2:

A number of initial teacher education qualifications do not identify a single sector of teaching via an NZSCED code, as they can produce graduates for more than one teaching sector.

In these cases, to determine the likely sector of teaching for each student/graduate, the courses a student enrolled in as part of the initial teacher education qualification were analysed. The study load (as measured by equivalent full-time students (EFTS)) in courses assigned to any of the initial teacher education NZSCED codes in Table 1 (or in courses that had a name that identified a sector of teaching) was then aggregated and a student was assigned to a teaching sector where they had the largest study load.

Where the likely sector of teaching for a student/graduate could not be identified using Step1 and Step 2 the sector was treated as "unknown".

Because the likely sector of teaching is a derived characteristic, it should be treated as indicative only.

Determining who is enrolling in ITE for the first time or completing their first ITE qualification

People can enrol in and complete additional ITE qualifications throughout their career. They do this for a variety of purposes, including: career progression, specialisation and remuneration gains. These people will already be qualified to teach.

To get a sense of people who are new to teacher training we split the enrolment data into those enrolling in ITE for the first time in that year and those who have been enrolled in ITE qualifications in previous years.

To identify the students new to ITE, we look back to 1994 using historical datasets to see if they have studied previously. If we don’t see a prior enrolment, they are treated as new to ITE in that year. As the unit record data only goes back to 1994, there may be older students who we identify as being new to ITE who may in fact already have studied an ITE qualification in the period prior to 1994.

Similarly, for ITE completion data, we report who is completing an ITE qualification for the first time and those who have already completed an ITE qualification in the past. This gives a sense of how many graduates may be available to join the teaching profession.

Focusing on 'first-time' students gives a more accurate picture of who may be available to join the teaching profession for the first time in the future.

More detail on this is provided in the Technical notes sheet in the Excel statistical tables.

Treatment of multi-teaching sector qualifications

In the reporting of official ITE statistics, where students enrol in or complete an ITE qualification which prepares them to teach in more than one sector, we report them in each of these sectors.

More detail on this is provided in the Technical notes sheet in the Excel statistical tables.

Region of study

In the ITE enrolment statistics, where a student is studying intramurally, the delivery site of the courses they enrolled in is used to identify study region. Where a student is studying extramurally, the postal code of the term address of the student is used to determine study region. Where study region cannot be determined we treat the study region as unknown.

For the ITE completions data, the study region of the last year of enrolment in the qualification is used to determine the study region.

It should be noted that the region an ITE student studies in may not be related to the region where they commence teaching.

Assigning a student as intramural or extramural

To assign a student as intramural or extramural the study load in courses/papers they are enrolled in within the qualification in a year is examined and if the majority of the study load is on an intramural basis they are assigned to that status (and vice versa). So a student who is classified as intramural may still be doing an extramural based paper.

The teaching subjects of secondary sector graduates

The initial teacher education data in sheet ITE.COM8 presents the teaching subject(s) of secondary sector graduates. Tertiary education providers can report up to three teaching subjects for each graduate via the Single Data Return and the data is available from 2019.

The subjects reported in sheet ITE.COM8 do not necessarily represent the subjects that the graduate may teach at school.

The initial teacher education data is compiled at the qualification level

The initial teacher education statistics reported here were compiled at the qualification level. Therefore, if a student was assigned to a particular sector of teaching, all of the EFTS for that student in that qualification in that year were assigned to that sector.

Māori medium statistics

The Māori medium statistics are reported for programmes that meet Teaching Council requirements for Māori medium. The Māori medium data is available from 2016 onwards as the Teaching Council requirements for Māori medium came into force on 1 January 2016.

As well as reporting the total number of students enrolled in and completing Māori medium ITE qualifications, we have split the data into bilingual or immersion provision. This terminology is in line with NZSCED definitions.