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School leavers with higher qualifications

The proportion of school leavers who had attained a qualification at National Certificate of Educational Attainment (NCEA) Level 2 or above, and the proportion who leave with Bursary and above.

This image is a visual representation of the data for this indicator. See the table below this image for the information.


Region School leavers with qualifications
NCEA Level 2 or higher (%)
2005 2006 2007
1 Northland 46.9 52.2 57.9
2 Auckland 62.1 65.7 69.6
3 Waikato 52.9 54.0 59.9
4 Bay of Plenty 49.2 53.2 61.0
5 Gisborne 42.3 48.1 54.7
6 Hawke's Bay 55.9 57.4 64.4
7 Taranaki 52.7 56.6 58.2
8 Manawatu-Whanganui 55.0 58.9 65.2
9 Wellington 62.2 62.7 70.0
10 Tasman 46.3 51.3 57.3
11 Nelson 63.8 70.4 67.4
12 Marlborough 54.4 60.3 64.3
13 West Coast 35.1 34.8 44.8
14 Canterbury 58.1 62.5 68.4
15 Otago 65.4 67.0 70.4
16 Southland 57.0 58.8 61.4

School leavers with higher qualifications, by sex, 2007

Region NCEA Level 2 or higher Bursary or higher
Sex (%) Total Sex (%) Total
Male Female Number % Male Female Number %
Northland 51.2 64.9 1,186 57.9 18.6 35.9 553 27.0
Auckland 65.3 74.0 12,622 69.6 29.6 44.6 6,712 37.0
Waikato 55.3 64.4 3,306 59.9 23.9 34.1 1,607 29.1
Bay of Plenty 58.2 63.7 2,205 61.0 26.7 37.1 1,154 31.9
Gisborne 53.0 56.4 357 54.7 22.6 33.0 181 27.7
Hawke's Bay 57.2 71.5 1,465 64.4 28.1 44.4 827 36.3
Taranaki 53.1 63.2 915 58.2 23.6 39.5 497 31.6
Manawatu-Whanganui 61.0 69.6 2,020 65.2 30.5 42.2 1,122 36.2
Wellington 65.5 74.5 4,159 70.0 34.1 47.4 2,417 40.7
Tasman 54.3 61.5 314 57.3 23.6 36.3 158 28.8
Nelson 59.3 75.1 599 67.4 30.3 46.2 342 38.5
Marlborough 63.2 65.3 328 64.3 28.9 36.6 168 32.9
West Coast 42.1 47.8 167 44.8 13.8 18.5 60 16.1
Canterbury 62.6 74.3 4,621 68.4 33.5 46.7 2,705 40.0
Otago 64.2 77.0 1,790 70.4 30.0 48.1 986 38.8
Southland 51.9 72.6 821 61.4 22.5 42.7 425 31.8

School leavers with higher qualifications, by ethnicity, 2007

NCEA Level 2 or higher

Region European Māori Pacific Asian Other Total
Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number %
Northland 717 68.1 433 46.7 11 37.9 20 66.7 5 50.0 1,186 57.9
Auckland 6,315 74.8 930 43.3 1,921 56.9 3,012 85.5 444 68.8 12,622 69.6
Waikato 2,308 67.2 631 42.3 83 47.7 217 76.1 67 51.5 3,306 59.9
Bay of Plenty 1,491 71.2 580 43.7 25 38.5 88 85.4 21 75.0 2,205 61.0
Gisborne 185 72.5 162 42.0 5 83.3 4 100.0 1 50.0 357 54.7
Hawke's Bay 1,063 71.6 327 49.6 46 52.9 24 72.7 5 38.5 1,465 64.4
Taranaki 773 63.5 105 34.3 14 63.6 17 85.0 6 100.0 915 58.2
Manawatu-Whanganui 1,461 69.0 365 50.0 62 62.0 88 87.1 44 86.3 2,020 65.2
Wellington 2,906 76.1 483 48.4 324 56.3 360 84.7 86 69.4 4,159 70.0
Tasman 279 58.4 31 50.8 1 33.3 3 75.0 0 0.0 314 57.3
Nelson 516 71.5 56 45.5 8 61.5 14 58.3 5 71.4 599 67.4
Marlborough 283 70.2 27 35.1 7 41.2 3 100.0 8 80.0 328 64.3
West Coast 143 45.4 18 36.0 1 50.0 3 75.0 2 100.0 167 44.8
Canterbury 3,802 70.6 305 46.3 103 55.1 352 80.5 59 66.3 4,621 68.4
Otago 1,567 72.8 108 46.2 36 60.0 59 85.5 20 76.9 1,790 70.4
Southland 702 65.9 91 39.7 11 47.8 13 92.9 4 80.0 821 61.4

Bursary or higher

Region European Māori Pacific Asian Other Total
Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number %
Northland 363 34.5 170 18.3 5 17.2 14 46.7 1 10.0 553 27.0
Auckland 3,578 42.4 385 17.9 631 18.7 1,890 53.7 228 35.3 6,712 37.0
Waikato 1,186 34.5 215 14.4 28 16.1 149 52.3 29 22.3 1,607 29.1
Bay of Plenty 872 41.6 201 15.1 9 13.8 59 57.3 13 46.4 1,154 31.9
Gisborne 115 45.1 61 15.8 1 16.7 4 100.0 0 0.0 181 27.7
Hawke's Bay 639 43.1 150 22.8 17 19.5 19 57.6 2 15.4 827 36.3
Taranaki 433 35.6 46 15.0 4 18.2 12 60.0 2 33.3 497 31.6
Manawatu-Whanganui 848 40.1 150 20.5 29 29.0 74 73.3 21 41.2 1,122 36.2
Wellington 1,826 47.8 187 18.8 102 17.7 274 64.5 28 22.6 2,417 40.7
Tasman 145 30.3 12 19.7 0 0.0 1 25.0 0 0.0 158 28.8
Nelson 298 41.3 25 20.3 5 38.5 11 45.8 3 42.9 342 38.5
Marlborough 155 38.5 7 9.1 1 5.9 2 66.7 3 30.0 168 32.9
West Coast 51 16.2 7 14.0 0 0.0 1 25.0 1 50.0 60 16.1
Canterbury 2,232 41.4 135 20.5 37 19.8 269 61.6 32 36.0 2,705 40.0
Otago 878 40.8 41 17.5 10 16.7 44 63.8 13 50.0 986 38.8
Southland 384 36.0 29 12.7 1 4.3 10 71.4 1 20.0 425 31.8