The retention data presented here is calculated from school leaver data, that is, it is the age that a school leaver completed their schooling. The Ministry convention is to consider the proportion of students that remain at school until at least their 17th birthday; this is a year after compulsory education and the average age for a student completing their upper secondary qualifications.
Ethnicity is multiple response, that is, students who affiliated in more than one ethnic group have been counted in each ethnic group. Students are only counted once in the total, therefore, the ethnic groups may not sum to the total.
To find specific regional data, select the region of your choice, then select Retention > Trends.
The Ministry provided Figure.NZ with a raw extract of all regions in January 2025.
From the dataset Know Your Region: Retention - Percentage of school leavers staying at school until at least their 17th birthday, by Region 2021–2023, this data was extracted:
Rows: 2-171
Columns: 3-11
Provided: 1,377 data points
Dataset originally released on:
January 2025
Purpose of collection
Completion of upper secondary education is associated with a range of economic and social benefits both in New Zealand and across the OECD. Retention to senior secondary schooling is linked to higher levels of skills and knowledge required for participation in our increasingly knowledge-based society and the wider global community.