School leavers with NCEA Level 2 or above in New Zealand
By gender, 2014–2024, % of students leaving school
| Year | Gender | % of people |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Female | 82.7% |
| 2015 | Female | 84.5% |
| 2016 | Female | 84.4% |
| 2017 | Female | 84.9% |
| 2018 | Female | 84.7% |
| 2019 | Female | 83.9% |
| 2020 | Female | 84.7% |
| 2021 | Female | 82.5% |
| 2022 | Female | 78.3% |
| 2023 | Female | 77.3% |
| 2024 | Female | 77.8% |
| 2014 | Male | 76.5% |
| 2015 | Male | 78.1% |
| 2016 | Male | 79% |
| 2017 | Male | 79.5% |
| 2018 | Male | 78.5% |
| 2019 | Male | 78% |
| 2020 | Male | 79.8% |
| 2021 | Male | 77.2% |
| 2022 | Male | 74% |
| 2023 | Male | 73.7% |
| 2024 | Male | 74.5% |
Definitions
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 (inclusive) 2025. School leavers are identified using ENROL.
NCEA: NCEA stands for National Certificate of Educational Achievement. NCEA is the national qualification system for New Zealand's senior secondary school students. It is made up of three certificates at Levels 1, 2 and 3 and usually studied in Years 11, 12 and 13.
Data calculation/treatment
The denominator is the total number of school leavers in a given school year.
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 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 reenrol 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.
Changes to data collection/processing
In response to COVID-19, the Ministry and the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) continued to provide a range of responses to NCEA to support students in 2021. Additional supports were provided to students in Auckland, Tai Tokerau and Waikato regions in recognition of a higher degree of disruption caused to students from the pandemic in these regions. These responses were designed to support students to engage in and progress with their assessed learning, whilst maintaining the integrity and credibility of the qualification. Alongside the provision of Learning Recognition Credits, there were significant other supports available for students and schools through the year. These likely complemented the built-in flexibility within NCEA and our secondary education system resulting in a generally positive attainment outcome for 2021.
Data provided by
Dataset name
School Leavers: School Leavers with NCEA 2 or above 2024
Webpage:
https://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/statistics/school-leavers
How to find the data
At URL provided, select 'Time series: School leavers with NCEA Level 2 or above (2014-2024)' from 'Times Series Data' section.
Import & extraction details
File as imported: School Leavers: School Leavers with NCEA 2 or above 2024
From the dataset School Leavers: School Leavers with NCEA 2 or above 2024, this data was extracted:
- Sheet: 3. Gender
- Range:
C5:X7 - Provided: 66 data points
This data forms the table Education - School leavers with NCEA Level 2 or above by gender 2014–2024.
Dataset originally released on:
August 2025
Purpose of collection
The National Certificate of Educational Achievement Level 2 (NCEA Level 2) is the second stage of upper-secondary education, and serves as a foundation for further study and/or employment. NCEA Level 2, as with all levels of NCEA, encompasses a wide range of learning. Students can attain credits through internal and external assessment, and they can accumulate these credits both within and across years.