In 2016 increasing numbers of students left school with a qualification. Around 85% of 18 year olds achieved NCEA Level 2 last year and the gaps between Māori and Pasifika students and the national average are narrowing, increasing the opportunities and improving life outcomes for our young people.
Schools are also using vocational pathways to help more students navigate meaningful pathways to tertiary education and employment. The proportion of students receiving Vocational Pathway Awards is up from 27.2% in 2013 to 32.9% in 2016.
We know that children get the best start to their education when they’re in quality early learning. The focus on increasing participation in early childhood education has led to a record number of parents enrolling their children with an early learning service, with nearly 97% of preschoolers participating in early childhood education prior to beginning school.
Our focus is now shifting to raise the achievement of all children in mathematics and writing, or tuhituhi and pangarau. National Standards and Ngā Whanaketanga Rumaki Māori provide teachers, school leaders and parents with better information on those children who need extra help. Achieving National Standards in reading, writing and maths means students will arrive at secondary school ready to progress in their learning. But achievement is not increasing year on year at a rate we’d like to see. That's why a new target has been set of 80% of all students in Year 8 to be achieving at or above the National Standards, or Manawa Toa or Manawa Ora in Ngā Whanaketanga Rumaki Māori, for maths and writing and pāngarau and tuhituhi, by 2021.
Setting targets in areas like NCEA Level 2 has helped lift student achievement and system performance. The targets for National Standards in mathematics and pāngarau, and writing and tuhituhi, will help focus attention on lifting achievement in these subjects. Sharpening our focus on progress at the same time means we can learn more about growth and rates of learning, which then helps better support and target teaching and learning.
Our 197 Communities of Learning involve 1630 schools, 184 early learning services and four tertiary providers, combining their resources and expertise to support the learning of 551,000 students. Communities of Learning use PAI data to set targets to raise student performance in areas such as maths, literacy and science, reading and writing and for students at risk of not achieving. PAI data is also helping parents and whānau to support students to work towards their educational and career goals.
Highlights: Public Achievement Information
- 84.6%, or 51,412 students aged 18, achieved NCEA Level 2 in 2016. That’s up by 10.3 percentage points since 2011.
- NCEA Level 2 achievement by Māori 18 year olds increased by 17.2 percentage points over this five year period.
- Participation in early learning (ECE) has risen to record levels. 96.7% of children participated in ECE before starting school in the year to December 2016.
The 2016 Public Achievement Information (PAI) is on the Education Counts website.