Exclusion rate for students in New Zealand schools
By region, 2024, age-standardised number of exclusions per 1,000 students
| Region | Age-standardised number of exclusions per 1,000 students |
|---|---|
| Northland | 2.7 |
| Auckland | 1.4 |
| Waikato | 2.4 |
| Bay of Plenty | 1.4 |
| Gisborne | 0.8 |
| Hawke's Bay | 3 |
| Taranaki | 1.6 |
| Manawatū-Whanganui | 2.8 |
| Wellington | 0.9 |
| West Coast | 2 |
| Canterbury | 1.7 |
| Otago | 2 |
| Southland | 2.8 |
| Tasman | 2.1 |
| Nelson | 2.4 |
| Marlborough | 1 |
Definitions
Exclusions: If the student is aged under 16, the Board may decide to exclude him or her from the school, with the requirement that the student enrols elsewhere. This decision should be arrived at only in the most serious cases. If the student is aged 16 or over, the board may decide to expel him or her from the school, and the student may or may not enrol at another school. Again, this decision should be arrived at only in the most serious cases. Excluded (or expelled) students may face difficulties in enrolling in other schools.
Expected exclusions: How many cases would have occurred if the national rates for each group were applied to the school or region. Expected numbers are not a desired number of cases nor are they a projection.
Age standardised rate: ‘observed’/’expected’*’national rate per 1,000’. Care should be taken when examining age-standardised rates, especially in the cases when small numbers are involved.
Data calculation/treatment
Ethnicity is prioritised.
Exclusions
International fee paying students, students age 16+ and private students are excluded.
Data provided by
Dataset name
Know Your Region: Student Engagement - Age standardised exclusion rate per 1,000 students, by Region 2024
Webpage:
http://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/know-your-region/
How to find the data
To find specific regional data, select the region of your choice, then select Student Engagement > Exclusions.
The Ministry provided Figure.NZ with a raw extract of all regions in June 2026.
Import & extraction details
File as imported: Know Your Region: Student Engagement - Age standardised exclusion rate per 1,000 students, by Region 2024
From the dataset Know Your Region: Student Engagement - Age standardised exclusion rate per 1,000 students, by Region 2024, this data was extracted:
- Rows: 2-157
- Columns: 3-5
- Provided: 414 data points
This data forms the table Student Engagement - Age standardised exclusion rate per 1,000 students, by region, 2024.
Purpose of collection
Schools must effectively involve students in learning to ensure educational success. Stand-downs, suspensions, and exclusions help provide indications of where engagement in productive learning may be absent and behavioural issues may be present. Stand-downs, suspensions and exclusions are not measures of student behaviour but measures of a school’s reaction to behaviour. What one school may choose to suspend for another may not.