Student suspensions from New Zealand schools
By gender, 2000–2023, number of suspensions
Year | Gender | Number of suspensions |
---|---|---|
2000 | Female | 1,352 |
2001 | Female | 1,301 |
2002 | Female | 1,295 |
2003 | Female | 1,371 |
2004 | Female | 1,397 |
2005 | Female | 1,428 |
2006 | Female | 1,335 |
2007 | Female | 1,262 |
2008 | Female | 1,233 |
2009 | Female | 1,255 |
2010 | Female | 1,227 |
2011 | Female | 972 |
2012 | Female | 917 |
2013 | Female | 789 |
2014 | Female | 595 |
2015 | Female | 599 |
2016 | Female | 670 |
2017 | Female | 744 |
2018 | Female | 870 |
2019 | Female | 953 |
2020 | Female | 645 |
2021 | Female | 802 |
2022 | Female | 966 |
2023 | Female | 1,263 |
2000 | Male | 3,753 |
2001 | Male | 3,501 |
2002 | Male | 3,637 |
2003 | Male | 3,524 |
2004 | Male | 3,386 |
2005 | Male | 3,720 |
2006 | Male | 3,660 |
2007 | Male | 3,420 |
2008 | Male | 3,152 |
2009 | Male | 3,502 |
2010 | Male | 2,995 |
2011 | Male | 2,773 |
2012 | Male | 2,440 |
2013 | Male | 2,290 |
2014 | Male | 2,101 |
2015 | Male | 2,019 |
2016 | Male | 2,029 |
2017 | Male | 2,386 |
2018 | Male | 2,195 |
2019 | Male | 2,328 |
2020 | Male | 1,635 |
2021 | Male | 1,643 |
2022 | Male | 1,762 |
2023 | Male | 2,143 |
Definitions
A suspension is a formal removal of a student from a school until a school Board of Trustees decides the outcome at a suspension meeting. Following a suspension, the Board of Trustees decides how to address the student's misbehaviour.
Data calculation/treatment
The age-standardised suspension rate is one where all subgroups, for all years, being compared are artificially given the same age distribution. In this indicator, the age distributions of students in each subgroup and year have been standardised to (or weighted by) the set of 2019 age-specific suspension rates for all New Zealand.
As suspensions are highest for ages 13 to 15, standardising for age will remove any differences due to one group having a younger or older population than other groups, or if the overall age distribution has changed from year to year. As such, the standardised rate is an artificial measure, but it does provide an estimate of how groups, or overall rates by year, might more fairly compare if they had the same age distribution.
For this indicator, ethnic group is prioritised in the order of Māori, Pacific Peoples, Asian, other groups except European/Pākehā, and European/Pākehā.
For more information
Exclusions
- students from schools which are not receiving public funding
- students at Correspondence School
- adult students (older than 19), and
- International Fee-Paying students. ),
- or students who terminated their enrolment.
Data provided by
Dataset name
School Student Engagement and Participation: Time Series Suspensions 2023
Webpage:
https://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/statistics/stand-downs,-suspensions,-exclusions-and-expulsions
How to find the data
At URL provided, select 'Time Series: Suspensions (2000-2023)' from the 'Time Series' section
Import & extraction details
File as imported: School Student Engagement and Participation: Time Series Suspensions 2023
From the dataset School Student Engagement and Participation: Time Series Suspensions 2023, this data was extracted:
- Sheet: 3. Gender
- Range:
C4:Z12
- Provided: 144 data points
This data forms the table Education - Age-standardised suspension rates in schools by gender 2000–2023.
Dataset originally released on:
March 2025