Education in New Zealand

Education in New Zealand is nominally free for all Primary, Intermediate and Secondary schooling. However, most schools also ask for a "donation" from parents and often call this a school fee or a "parental contribution".

Contents

Attendance requirements

Attendance at a school is compulsory for all children between the ages of 6 and 16, although most children start school on their 5th birthday and a significant number of students spend 13 years in the school system.

Educational institutions

Educational institutions consist of the following categories:

Early childhood education

Main article: Early childhood education

  • Playcentre or Kindergarten (Ages 3 - 5)
  • Licensed Early Childhood Centres (Ages 0 - 5) (usually privately owned)
  • Chartered Early Childhood Centres (Ages 0 - 5) (state funded)

Primary and secondary education

While there is overlap in some schools, primary school ends at Year 8 and secondary school at Year 13. The last two years of primary school are normally considered intermediate school instead of primary school, and is normally a school in itself, leaving "primary school" to end at Year 6. Outside of the following categories, many private schools, state area schools and state integrated schools take students from Years 0 to 13, or Years 7 to 13.

There are two kinds of schools: state and private (aka "registered") schools. A subtype of state school is the "state integrated" school. These are private schools that are "integrated" into the state system under the Private Schools Conditional Integration Act 1975 [1] (http://tinyurl.com/298yc) "on a basis which will preserve and safeguard the special character of the education provided by them".

Primary and Intermediate education

Main article: Primary education

  • Year 1 - Year 6 Primary Schools (Ages 5 - 10)
  • Year 1 - Year 8 Full Primary Schools (Ages 5 - 12) (less common)
  • Year 7 - Year 8 Intermediate Schools (Ages 11 - 12)
  • Year 7 - Year 10 Middle Schools (Ages 11-14) (uncommon)

Secondary education

Main article: Secondary education

  • Year 9 - Year 13 Schools (Ages 13 - 17)
  • Year 7 - Year 13 Schools (Ages 11 - 17) (less common)

Area schools

Main article: Area schools

  • Year 1 - Year 13 Area Schools (Ages 5 - 17) (some rural areas)

The Correspondence School

Main article: The Correspondence School

  • Preschool - Year 13 The Correspondence School (Preschool - Age 17)

School years

New Zealand has been recently moving towards a system where school levels are identified by Year. Before this, a system of Forms, Standards and Juniors was used, and still is used at some schools.

  • Primary Education:
    • Years 1 - 2 (Junior 1 - 2)
    • Years 3 - 6 (Standard 1 - 4)
  • Intermediate Education:
    • Years 7 - 8 (Form 1 - 2)
  • Secondary Education:
    • Years 9 - 13 (Form 3 - 7)

Secondary qualifications

The present Qualification system is called the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA). Most students will sit exams and internal assessments under this system over the last three years of High School.

  • Year 11 - This is the last year of compulsory schooling. Most students will sit NCEA Level 1. Some schools offer "O"-level General Certificate of Education and General Certificate of Secondary Education examinations as well as or instead of the controversial NCEA.
  • Year 12 - Most students will sit NCEA Level 2. Some schools offer GCE AS-Level examinations.
  • Year 13 - Most students will sit NCEA Level 3, while some students will sit the New Zealand Scholarship Examination. Some schools offer GCE A2-level examinations. Both AS-levels and A2-levels count towards the "A"-level GCE.

Some schools also offer the International Baccalaureate.

History
  • 1986 - NZ University Entrance Examination (Year 12) abolished, and replaced with the Sixth Form Certificate. Entrance Certificate now only awarded those who marginally failed to win a University Bursary. Bursars (University Bursary) and Scholars (Entrance Scholarship) unaffected since they won higher awards. A private external examination called the Sixth Form External Examination was founded for those who wished not to enter for the Sixth Form Certificate.
  • 1989 - NZ University Entrance Scholarships Examination (Year 13) abolished and Entrance Scholarships now awarded to the top 3-4% of Bursars. A private scholarships examination (later to be called the NZEST Scholarships Examination) was founded for those who wished to be examined separately at the old University Scholarship level.
  • 2002 to 2004 - School Certificate, Sixth Form Certificate and NZ University Bursary gradually replaced by NCEA.
  • 2004 - NZ University Entrance Scholarships replaced by the New Zealand Scholarship Examination. The Higher School Certificate abolished.

Tertiary education

Main article: Tertiary education

For non-private institutions, see also: state sector organisations in New Zealand)

Colleges of education (Teachers' Colleges)

Polytechnics

For a list of polytechnics, see: state sector organisations in New Zealand

Private Training Establishments

Wānanga

Main article: Wananga

for a list of wānanga, see: state sector organisations in New Zealand

Universities

Main article: University

All of the following universities, except for the Auckland University of Technology and Waikato University, used to be university colleges of the former University of New Zealand.

Funding

For tertiary education

Funding for tertiary education in New Zealand is through a combination of government subsidies and student fees. The government funds approved courses by a tuition grant based on the number of enrolled students in each course and the amount of study time each course requires. Courses are rated on an equivalent full-time Student (EFTS) basis. Students enrolled in courses can access Student Loans and Student Allowances to assist with fees and living costs.

Student loans

The Student Loan Scheme is available to all New Zealand permanent residents and can cover course fees, course related expenses and can also provide a weekly living allowance for full time students. The loan must be repaid at a rate dependent on income and repayments are normally recovered via the income tax system by wage deductions. Low income earners and students in full time study can have the interest on their loans written off.

Student Allowances, which are non-refundable grants to students of limited means, are means tested and the weekly amount granted depends on residential and citizenship qualifications, age, location, marital status, dependent children as well as personal, spousal or parental income.

Funding for Tertiary Institutions has been criticised recently due to high fees and funding not keeping pace with costs or inflation. Some also point out that high fees are leading to skills shortages in New Zealand as high costs discourage participation and graduating students seek well paying jobs off shore to pay for their student loans debts. As a result, education funding has been undergoing an ongoing review in recent years.

See also

External links

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