Age-standardised rate of student expulsions from New Zealand schools
2000–2024, rate per 1000 students
| Year | Rate per 1000 students |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 2.406897047612 |
| 2001 | 1.948869182421 |
| 2002 | 1.984306872916 |
| 2003 | 1.990458850602 |
| 2004 | 1.550964289666 |
| 2005 | 1.764175856461 |
| 2006 | 1.728493366474 |
| 2007 | 1.86743576142 |
| 2008 | 1.623972704703 |
| 2009 | 1.959789739 |
| 2010 | 2.058035388928 |
| 2011 | 1.665603949963 |
| 2012 | 1.384875744534 |
| 2013 | 1.397575101092 |
| 2014 | 1.143123497939 |
| 2015 | 1.530184619007 |
| 2016 | 1.111107033271 |
| 2017 | 1.356285685205 |
| 2018 | 1.195794921325 |
| 2019 | 1.409554589769 |
| 2020 | 1.070493233214 |
| 2021 | 0.9968547486745 |
| 2022 | 0.9528350794848 |
| 2023 | 0.9893689486857 |
| 2024 | 1.623080570449 |
Definitions
Expulsion is the formal removal of a child from school or kura if they are 16 years old or older. This means they must leave and not attend the school they are enrolled at.
Expulsions occur only for 16 year-olds and above, therefore the expulsion rate refers to the number of expulsions per 1,000 standardised for students aged 16 or over.
Data calculation/treatment
This indicator uses age-standardised rates. These are expressed as expulsions per 1,000 students enrolled. Most expulsions peak at age 16, and age-standardisation allows a fair comparison between different cohorts. In any given year the schooling population will have a different age distribution. By standardising for age we can compare across years.
Exclusions
- students from schools which are not receiving public funding
- students at Correspondence School
- adult students (older than 19), and
- International Fee-Paying students.
Data provided by
Dataset name
School Student Engagement and Participation: Time series expulsions 2024
Webpage:
https://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/statistics/stand-downs,-suspensions,-exclusions-and-expulsions
How to find the data
At URL provided, select 'Time Series: Expulsions (2000-2024)' from the 'Time Series' section.
Import & extraction details
File as imported: School Student Engagement and Participation: Time series expulsions 2024
From the dataset School Student Engagement and Participation: Time series expulsions 2024, this data was extracted:
- Sheet: 1. National
- Range:
C3:AA4 - Provided: 50 data points
This data forms the table Education - Age-standardised expulsion rates in schools 2000–2024.
Dataset originally released on:
December 2025
Purpose of collection
Student attendance and engagement are critical factors relating to student achievement. The levels of stand-downs, suspensions, exclusions and expulsions help provide indications of where engagement in productive learning may be absent and behavioural issues may be present.