School leavers staying on at school until age 17 in New Zealand
By gender, 2014–2024, % of school leavers
| Year | Gender | % of school leavers |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Female | 87.4% |
| 2015 | Female | 88.1% |
| 2016 | Female | 87.7% |
| 2017 | Female | 87.1% |
| 2018 | Female | 87.5% |
| 2019 | Female | 86.5% |
| 2020 | Female | 87.2% |
| 2021 | Female | 85.8% |
| 2022 | Female | 82.8% |
| 2023 | Female | 81.9% |
| 2024 | Female | 83.5% |
| 2014 | Male | 81.5% |
| 2015 | Male | 82.1% |
| 2016 | Male | 81.6% |
| 2017 | Male | 81.4% |
| 2018 | Male | 80.6% |
| 2019 | Male | 79.8% |
| 2020 | Male | 81.4% |
| 2021 | Male | 79% |
| 2022 | Male | 76.7% |
| 2023 | Male | 76.8% |
| 2024 | Male | 78.5% |
Notes
Definitions
Retention Rate: Percentage of students staying on at school to age 17.
School leavers: School leavers in 2024 are students that permanently left school to enter the workforce and/or undertake further education and training outside of the compulsory schooling system sometime between 1 March 2024 and the last day of February 2025 (inclusive). School leavers are identified using ENROL.
For more information
Inclusions
Domestic students who were aged less than 19 in their first enrolment in ENROL; including alternative education students, students 16 or over on 1 March 2024 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 re-enrol in another school according to 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 2025 but leave before 1 March 2025 are counted with 2024 leavers.
Exclusions
Returning adult students (aged 19 or more) with a year gap in their attendance
Exchange and International fee-paying students
Students who successfully transferred to another school in New Zealand or to home schooling
Deceased students.
Data provided by
Dataset name
School Leavers: Time Series Data School Leavers Retention 2024
Webpage:
https://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/statistics/school-leavers
How to find the data
At URL provided, select 'Time series: School leavers retention (2014-2024)' from 'Time Series Data' section.
Import & extraction details
File as imported: School Leavers: Time Series Data School Leavers Retention 2024
From the dataset School Leavers: Time Series Data School Leavers Retention 2024, this data was extracted:
- Sheet: 3. Gender
- Range:
C5:X7 - Provided: 66 data points
This data forms the table Education - School leavers staying on at school to age 17, by gender 2014–2024.
Dataset originally released on:
August 2025