8.3 School leavers Ngā ākonga wehe kura

8.3. School leavers | Ngā ākonga wehe kura

Figure 118 shows that a higher proportion of those leaving New Zealand schools in 2020 went on to tertiary education in 2021 than had done so in the preceding six years. This pattern was short lived: the share of school leavers going on to tertiary education reverted to pre-pandemic levels in 2022 and dropped further in 2023. It had not returned to pre-pandemic levels by 2024.

Figure 118: Tertiary education destinations of New Zealand school leavers

First year destination after leaving school, 2014–2024

Source: Ministry of Education, School Leavers Tertiary Destinations (2014 to 2024), https://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/statistics/what-happens-to-school-leavers
Notes:
1. Tertiary information is based on tertiary enrolments in formal qualification at tertiary education providers nd industry training.
2. Excludes students who did not attend a New Zealand school.
3. Data excludes those Private Training Establishments that neither received tuition subsidies/targeted  training funding nor were approved for student loans or allowances.
4. Data for formal tertiary enrolments at a tertiary education provider relates to students enrolled at any time during the year with a tertiary education provider in formal qualifications of greater than 0.03 EFTS  (see figure 117 for explanation of EFTS).
5. ‘Te Pūkenga diplomas 3–7’ refers to diploma courses at Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics in New Zealand.