How does New Zealand’s

education system compare?

OECD’s Education at a Glance 2015
Author
Simon Crossan
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 04-463 8260

The author gratefully acknowledges comments provided by David Scott from the Ministry of Education.

Published by
Evidence, Data & Knowledge
MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

© Crown Copyright
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 New Zealand licence. You are free to copy,
distribute and adapt the work, as long as you attribute the work to the copyright holder and abide by the other
licence terms. To view a copy of this licence, visit www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/nz/

November 2015

ISSN 2463-3747

2
NEW ZEALAND’S EDUCATION SYSTEM AT A GLANCE

Early Childhood Education (ECE) and Schooling

 New Zealand continues to perform well on ECE indicators – participation, funding and teacher-
child ratios are all in the top third of countries and well above OECD averages.
 Enrolment rates for 15 to19 year-olds are still in the bottom half of OECD countries, but are now
closer to the median than they were five years ago.
 Compared with other countries, young New Zealanders are more likely to leave school sooner,
and work, or go on to further education, or enter further education when they're older.
 The level of young New Zealanders not in employment, education or training (NEET) in 2014
has improved and is now at 2008 pre-recession levels. This improvement has been ahead of
many other OECD countries over this period and NEET rates for 15 to 19 year-olds are now
closer to the OECD average.
 New Zealand spends less per student than the OECD average, but relative to national wealth,
public expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP is high, as is public expenditure on
tertiary education as a percentage of total public spending.
 There are 16 full-time equivalent children per full-time equivalent primary teacher and 15 per full-
time equivalent secondary teacher, both slightly higher than their respective OECD averages.
 Teachers with 15 years experience earn about the same as equivalent qualified adults. Teacher
statutory salaries increase faster than the OECD average, but reach a maximum which is lower
than the average maximum in other OECD countries.
 New Zealand teachers have longer statutory hours than the average statutory hours of their
OECD counterparts.
 New Zealand school teachers are older on average and the proportion of teachers over 50 years
old has been increasing.
 New Zealand has a low ratio of students to computers and our 15 year-olds accessed the
internet sooner than many other OECD countries. New Zealand 15 year-olds spent about the
same amount of time using computers at school as the OECD average.

Tertiary and international education and the post-study outcomes of education

 The proportion of New Zealand adults with a degree or above (at 30%) is just above the OECD
average. The proportion with a level 4 qualification or higher (at 52%) is one of the highest.
 Female attainment now exceeds that of males in the majority of OECD countries, and in New
Zealand this difference is one of the largest.
 New Zealand has above average levels of participation at core tertiary ages (18 to 20) and
relatively very high tertiary participation at older ages (30 and over). Participation in vocational
programmes, especially at level 4 is also very high, as are levels of part-time study.
 New Zealand students are more likely to enter science, mathematics and computing
programmes than students in other OECD countries, but are less likely to enter engineering,
manufacturing and construction programmes.
 Public investment in tertiary education is high, but more of it goes to students as loans and
grants than as direct funding to institutions than it does in other countries. Public expenditure on
tertiary education as a percentage of GDP is high, as is public expenditure on tertiary education
as a percentage of total public spending.
 At degree level, New Zealand has more students per teacher on average, and more women
teaching.
 International students remain a key feature of New Zealand’s education system. New Zealand
has one of the largest proportions of tertiary students who are international students, especially
at doctoral level where 43% of students were international students.
 The employment rate and earnings increase with education, as with all countries in the OECD,
but the relative benefits between the least and most educated are smaller in New Zealand.
 A range of social indicators are positively associated with higher levels of education across
OECD countries, including self-reported health, volunteering, trust and political efficacy.

3
INTRODUCTION

Every year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
publishes Education at a Glance (EAG), a set of indicators that compares the education
systems of 34 member countries, and other participating partner and G20 countries.
The indicators within Education at a Glance are considered to "reflect a consensus
among professionals on how to measure the current state of education internationally",
and are a key reference for assessing New Zealand's education system in an
international context.
This is the 23rd edition of Education at a Glance. This year’s report reflects 2014 data
on attainment and labour market indicators, and 2013 data for other non-financial
indicators. Financial indicators are for 2012 data (which for New Zealand is the 2012/13
financial year). The report includes over 400 country comparison tables and graphs
covering 31 education system indicators including:
 Educational attainment in the population
 Participation and achievement
 Expenditure on education
 Transitions from school to work
 Employment and earnings, and returns on educational investment
 Social outcomes of education
 International education
 Staffing: teacher to student ratios, salaries and demographics
 Public versus private education
 Student financial support and tertiary tuition fees
 What evaluation and assessment mechanisms are there in the schools
 How early childhood systems differ around the world
 Information and Communication Technology (ICT) used in teaching and learning.
The last indicator uses New Zealand results from the Teaching and Learning
International Survey (TALIS). The focus is on information and communication
technology (ICT) use by students and the participation of teachers in professional
development activities about ICT and new technologies in the workplace.
The indicator also draws on New Zealand PISA 2012 data looking at students internet
use, the number of computers for each student and gender gaps in digital and print
reading.
Education at a Glance uses the International Standard Classification of Education
(ISCED) as the common standard for comparing levels of education across countries.
ISCED was updated in 2011, and EAG 2015 reflects this standard. The main changes
see the introduction of early childhood educational development programmes (ECE for
under threes), the introduction of home-based provision into ECE levels and the
splitting of bachelor’s and master’s degrees into two separate levels.
This summary presents highlights in relation to New Zealand. Readers are encouraged
to check out the full report. The report, and all tables and graphs, are available online.
Over 140 tables are only available online at http://www.oecd.org/education/eag.htm.
The OECD GPS and OECD.stat are useful resources enabling further comparisons of
New Zealand with specific countries and indicators. These are available at
http://gpseducation.oecd.org/ and http://stats.oecd.org/ respectively.

4
EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

The International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) 2011, introduced for the
first time into EAG 2015, has two key changes at ECE level. The introduction of 'early
childhood educational development programmes' brings ECE for very young children
into scope, alongside existing 'pre-primary education' for older children. The distinction
between these two ECE levels is typically operationalised by age, with pre-primary
relating to ECE at ages 3 and above. The new ISCED changes also now include formal
home-based ECE provision. Both these changes have a noticeable impact on New
Zealand’s results. Consequently, New Zealand’s results in EAG 2015 (based on ISCED
2011) can no longer be compared with those in EAG 2014 (based on ISCED 1997).

New Zealand has relatively high participation in early childhood education

New Zealand has relatively high participation in ECE. It is one of 12 countries where
over 95% of 4 year-olds are enrolled in pre-primary education and one of 13 countries
where over 90% of 3 year-olds are enrolled in ECE. Participation at younger ages is
also relatively high, although data on participation at these younger ages is reported for
less than half of OECD countries1.
The introduction of formal home-based ECE into the international standard means the
results from EAG 2015 are not comparable with those in previous editions of EAG.

Figure 1 Enrolment rates in early childhood education (2013)

percent
100

80

60

40

20

0
Japan
Slovenia

Finland

Poland
New Zealand

Norway

Luxembourg

Portugal

Czech Republic

Switzerland
Sweden
Korea

Hungary

Ireland
Slovak Republic
Chile
Iceland

Germany
Belgium

Italy

United Kingdom
Denmark

Mexico

United States
Netherlands

OECD average
France
Israel

Spain

Estonia

Austria

Australia

Turkey

Ages 3 and 4 Age 2 and under

While participation in schooling is compulsory from age 6, most children in New

Zealand start at age 5. New Zealand is one of a small group of countries where primary
schooling starts at age 5. In most countries ECE continues at age 5, whereas in New
Zealand, less than 4% of 5 year-olds are enrolled in ECE.

1
Results for New Zealand are inflated to some extent by double counting of children who are enrolled in more than one
ECE service. When adjusted for this New Zealand level of ECE participation is still in the top third of OECD countries.

5
Figure 2 Enrolment rates in of 5 year-olds in education (2013)
percent
100

80

60

40

20

0
France

Denmark
Belgium

Norway
Israel

Portugal

Japan

Austria

Turkey
United States
Mexico
Ireland

Poland
Australia

Netherlands

Italy

Germany

Spain

Hungary

OECD average
Iceland

Canada
Sweden

Slovenia
Switzerland

Chile

Czech Republic

Finland
New Zealand
Luxembourg

Korea
United Kingdom

Estonia

Slovak Republic
Primary Pre-primary

Many countries' investment in ECE lasts an extra year compared with

New Zealand; however New Zealand’s investment in ECE is still high
New Zealand’s investment in ECE is relatively large. Total ECE expenditure per child
from public and private sources is in the top third of countries at the pre-primary level
(ages 3 and above). Data on investment at earlier ages (the new ‘early childhood
educational development’ level) was reported by 11 countries.

Figure 3 Annual expenditure per child in early-childhood education institutions (2012)

USD PPP
25,000

20,000

15,000

10,000

5,000

0
Japan
Finland

Poland
Slovenia

Portugal

Czech Republic
Luxembourg
Sweden

New Zealand
Norway

Korea
Switzerland
Slovak Republic
Hungary
United Kingdom

Iceland

Germany

Italy
United States

Belgium
Netherlands
OECD average
Australia

Austria

France

Spain

Israel

Pre-primary (3 and over) Early childhood educational development (under 3s) All early childhood education

Relative to the domestic economy, public and private spending by ECE institutions at
the pre-primary level is 0.6% of GDP, the same as the OECD average. This comparison
reflects the fact that most 5 year-olds are in primary school in New Zealand, whereas
they are part of the ECE system in most other countries.
The public share of expenditure on pre-primary ECE is also relatively high at 87%,
above the OECD average of 80%. Twenty-one countries reported data for this indicator,
with the median proportion being 83%.

6
The ratio of ECE children to teachers is low in New Zealand
In New Zealand, maximum child-teacher ratios are regulated. In actual terms, New
Zealand has the third lowest ratios of children to teachers in ECE. On average there are
4.2 children per teaching staff member in early childhood educational development
programmes (under 3 years old), and 7.7 children per teaching staff member at pre-
primary (3 and over), compared to 14.4 children per teaching staff member at both
levels across the OECD2.

Figure 4 Ratio of full-time equivalent children to teaching staff in early childhood education (2013)
30

25
number of full-time equivalnet children

20

15

10

0
Poland

Slovenia
Portugal

Switzerland

Japan

Hungary

Finland
Czech Republic

Greece
Norway
Chile
Mexico

Korea

Slovak Republic

Luxembourg

Germany

Sweden
Italy

New Zealand

Iceland
United States

United Kingdom
Turkey

Belgium
Netherlands

OECD average

Estonia
France

Spain

Austria

Pre-primary education (3 and over) Early childhood educational development (under 3's)

In all OECD countries, early childhood teachers are more likely to be female. In New
Zealand, 98% of teachers are female, compared to 96% on average across the OECD.
All countries, apart from the Netherlands and France had rates over 90%.

Figure 5 The percentage of pre-primary teaching staff who are female (2013)

percent
100

95

90

85

80

2
Note that ratios as reported in EAG are measured in full-time equivalent child and teacher terms. As such, they don’t
necessarily provide a true indicator of class or group size.

7
In New Zealand almost all early childhood education is delivered by private providers,
with these providers receiving large subsidies from government. Across the OECD on
average, 61% of ECE institutions are publicly owned and 24% receive some funding
from the government. Independently funded private institutions make up the remaining
15%.
New Zealand is one of 25 OECD countries where integrated programmes are provided.
Integrated programmes include both education and childcare components.

8
SCHOOLING

Upper secondary retention is improving, but is still lower than the OECD
median
Education at a Glance uses the International Standard Classification of Education
(ISCED) 2011. Primary education in ISCED covers Years 1 to 6, lower-secondary
covers Years 7 to 10, and upper-secondary covers Years 11 to 13 including levels 1 to
3 post-secondary education.
While upper-secondary covers enrolment in all programmes at levels 1 to 3 on the New
Zealand Qualification Framework, upper-secondary attainment only includes those with
at least a Year 12 equivalent school qualification (i.e. at level 2 or above). People with
Year 11 qualifications, such as NCEA Level 1, or other level 1 certificates, or those with
the older School Certificate are included in the ‘below upper-secondary’ group.
In New Zealand, in 2013, 84% of 15 to 19 year-olds were enrolled in education. While
this was the same as the OECD average, New Zealand is still placed in the bottom half
of OECD countries, below the OECD median.
However, more of our 15 to 19 year-olds are staying in education past NCEA Level 1.
The relative improvement has been ahead of that of other countries. The enrolment rate
for 15 to 19 year-olds increased from 74% to 84% between 2008 and 2013 (and from
26th out of 29 countries to 22nd out of 32 countries), and this growth has been ahead of
many other OECD countries over this period.

Figure 6 Enrolment rates of 15 to19 year-olds in education (2005, 2013)

percent
100

80

60

40

20

0
Belgium

Denmark

Norway

France

Austria

Turkey
Ireland

Portugal

Israel
Poland

Mexico
Netherlands

Germany

Hungary

Spain

OECD average

Italy
Slovenia

Czech Republic

Iceland

Sweden

United States

Canada
Australia

Chile
Korea

Finland

Switzerland

New Zealand

Luxembourg
Estonia

United Kingdom
Slovak Republic

2013 2005

Enrolment rates for 17 to 20 year-olds in New Zealand in secondary education are

below OECD averages. In New Zealand, students tend to leave school earlier to enter
employment or post-secondary education. In New Zealand 3% of 17 year-olds and 31%
of 18 year-olds were enrolled in tertiary education, compared to the OECD averages of
2 and 17% respectively. A similar pattern is also observed in Canada, the United
States, the United Kingdom and Australia.

9
Figure 7 Percentage of 18 year-olds in education, by level (2013)
percent
100

80

60

40

20

0
Norway

Denmark

Belgium

France

Austria

Turkey
Ireland

Germany

Portugal

United States

Israel
Japan
Poland

Hungary

Spain

Australia

Mexico
Canada
Sweden

Slovenia

Netherlands

Iceland

Italy
OECD average
Czech Republic
Finland

Switzerland

Chile
Luxembourg
Korea

United Kingdom
New Zealand
Estonia

Slovak Republic
Secondary (levels 1-3) Post-secondary (level 4) Diploma and above

Upper secondary attainment remains below the OECD average

For 25 to 34 year-olds, 81% have at least an upper-secondary qualification, which is
below the OECD average of 83%3. There was no difference in the rate between men
and women in this age group.

In New Zealand, 74% of adults aged between 25 and 64 have at least an upper-
secondary4 qualification as their highest achieved qualification level. This places New
Zealand in the bottom half of countries and is lower than the OECD average of 76%.

The percentage of New Zealand men with at least upper-secondary attainment is 75%,
compared to the OECD average of 77%. For New Zealand women, 73% have at least
an upper-secondary qualification, which is below the OECD average of 76%.

In 2013, 78% of New Zealanders can expect to graduate with a general upper-
secondary education, this is higher than the OECD average of 52%. This indicator
however, has a number of issues5.

Since 2000, New Zealand’s educational attainment for those with at least an upper-
secondary education has grown and has been tracking just below the OECD average
over the same period. Growth in educational attainment for women has been faster
across the OECD, although in New Zealand growth between men and women has been
similar.

3
Upper-secondary does not include level 1 NCEA qualifications.
4
Upper-secondary does not include level 1 NCEA qualifications.
5
The higher levels of older students gaining upper-secondary-equivalent post-school certificates is not well catered for
in the OECD methodology and leads to artificially-inflated graduation rates near or above 100 percent. To improve the
interpretability the data are separated into general (school) programmes and vocational programmes.

10
Figure 8 Attainment rate for adults with at least an upper-secondary education (2000 to 2014)

percent
90

80

70

60

50
2000 2005 2010 2014
Australia Canada New Zealand
United Kingdom United States OECD average

Young New Zealanders not in education are more likely to be working

than their OECD counterparts
New Zealand had a relatively large proportion of young people who were not in
education but were in employment, at 13% compared to the OECD average of 6.6%.
New Zealand’s profile is relatively similar to those in Canada, Australia, the United
States and the United Kingdom. A number of countries with very high levels of
employment for young people have compulsory military service for one year or more,
e.g. Brazil, Israel, Korea and Mexico.
However, the level of 15 to 19 year-olds not in employment, education or training
(NEET) was still above the OECD median. New Zealand had a NEET rate for 15 to 19
year-olds of 7.1% compared to the OECD average of 7.2%. The rate was below the
OECD average for both young men and women.

Figure 9 Not in education – NEET and employed among 15 to19 year-olds (2014)
percent
40

30

20

10

0
Norway

Belgium

Portugal
Japan

France
Denmark

New Zealand

Ireland
Poland

Austria

Mexico
Brazil
Germany
Czech Republic

Slovenia

Hungary

Canada

United States

Israel

Italy
OECD average
Netherlands

Switzerland

Spain
Chile
Sweden

Iceland

Korea

Greece
Finland

Australia

United Kingdom
Slovak Republic

Estonia

NEET - unemployed NEET - inactive Employed

New Zealand sits mid-table with 11 other countries with NEET between 6 and 8%.
Fourteen countries had a rate below 6%, while eight countries had a rate greater than
8%.

11
Figure 10 NEET population among 15-19 year-olds, by gender (2014)
percent
25

20

15

10

0
Poland
Czech Republic
Norway

Switzerland
Slovenia

Finland

Portugal
Japan
Hungary

Greece
Luxembourg

Sweden

Korea

Ireland

Chile
Germany

Slovak Republic

New Zealand
Iceland
Belgium

Italy

Mexico
United States

United Kingdom
Denmark
Netherlands

Estonia

Australia

OECD average
Canada

Austria

Israel
France

Spain
Men Women Men and Women

The NEET rate for 15 to 19 year-olds has improved steadily since peaking at 9.4% in
2009, and is now back to pre-recession levels, where it was below the OECD average.
The impacts of the global financial crisis often affect the youngest and least qualified
first in terms of reduced employment and earnings, encouraging many to stay on or go
back to education.

Figure 11 NEET rates for 15 to 19 year-olds in selected OECD countries (2000 to 2014)
percent
12

10 Ireland

United Kingdom
8
Australia

OECD average
6
New Zealand

0
2000 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Across adults aged 20 to 29, New Zealand has a NEET rate below the OECD average.
The NEET rate for New Zealanders aged 20 to 24 was 14.4%, below the OECD
average of 17.9%. For 25 to 29 year olds, 17.5% were NEET, compared to the OECD
average of 20.5%.
New Zealand was in a group of countries including Australia, Germany and the Czech
Republic where NEET rates were low overall, but were noticeably lower for men and
higher for women.

12
Figure 12 NEET rates for 20 to 24 and 25 to 29 year-olds (2014)
percent
50

40

30

20

10

Slovenia

Poland
Norway

Czech Republic

Finland

Ireland

Portugal

Greece
Luxembourg

Sweden

Switzerland

New Zealand

Chile
OECD average

Slovak Republic

Hungary

Korea

Italy
Iceland

Germany
Netherlands

Mexico
United Kingdom
United States

Belgium
Denmark
Australia

Estonia

Turkey
Austria

Canada

France
Israel

Spain
20-24 year-olds 25-29 year-olds

NEET rates for 20 to 29 year-olds are naturally higher than those of 15 to 19 year-olds
as many in the younger group will still be enrolled in compulsory schooling. The impacts
of a global financial crisis often affect the youngest and least qualified first and hardest
in terms of reduced employment and earnings. Many of the younger group will stay on
or go back to education. As a result, the greatest overall average OECD changes in
NEET rates over the period of the global financial crisis were seen in 20 to 29 year-olds.

Figure 13 Trends in the OECD average NEET population, by age group (2000 to 2014)
24

20

16

12

0
2000 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
15-19 20-24 25-29

13
New Zealand spends less than average per student, but relative to
national wealth, public investment is high
In the 2012/2013 financial year, New Zealand’s expenditure from public and private
sources per student at primary and secondary levels was below the OECD average.
Spending at the primary level was 14% below the OECD average, while spending at
the secondary level was 1% below the OECD average.

Figure 14 Annual expenditure per student by educational institutions (2012)

25,000
USD, converted using PPP for GDP

20,000

15,000

10,000

5,000

0
Norway

Ireland
Austria

Belgium

France

Denmark

Turkey
United States

Japan

Portugal

Israel

Hungary
Switzerland

Netherlands

Germany

OECD average

Spain
Italy

Slovenia
Czech Republic

Poland

Chile
Mexico
Iceland
Luxembourg

Sweden

Australia

Korea
United Kingdom
Finland

New Zealand

Estonia

Slovak Republic
Secondary Primary

New Zealand's wealth as measured by gross domestic product (GDP) is in the bottom
half of OECD countries. Relative to national wealth, expenditure on educational
institutions as a percentage of GDP in New Zealand was above average. At the primary
and lower-secondary level New Zealand spent 3.2% of GDP, compared to the OECD
average of 2.5%. At the upper-secondary level, New Zealand spent 1.6% of GDP,
above the OECD average of 1.2%. New Zealand ranked in the top three at both of
these levels.

Figure 15 Expenditure on educational institutions as a percentage of GDP (2012)

percent of GDP
4.0
3.5
3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
Finland

Poland
New Zealand
Portugal

Norway

Slovenia

Switzerland

Slovak Republic

Japan
United Kingdom

Czech Republic

Hungary
Korea

Iceland

Chile

Luxembourg
Germany
Sweden

Italy

Mexico

Ireland
Belgium

United States
Denmark
Netherlands

OECD average

Turkey

Estonia

Australia
Israel

France

Canada

Austria

Spain

Upper-secondary Primary and lower secondary

14
Spending per student relative to GDP per capita allows investment to be viewed after
accounting for differences in relative national wealth and national demographic
differences. At the primary level, annual expenditure per student relative to GDP per
capita was 22%, the same as the OECD average. At the secondary level, annual
expenditure per student relative to GDP per capita was 29%, above the OECD average
of 25%. On these measures New Zealand ranked 18th and 5th respectively.

Figure 16 Annual expenditure per student by educational institutions relative to GDP per capita (2012)
35
30
percent of GDP per capita

25
20
15
10
5
0

Israel
Austria

France

Norway

Finland

Iceland
Poland

Spain

United States

Denmark

Hungary
OECD average

Germany

Chile

Mexico
Italy

Australia
Netherlands
Korea

Ireland
Portugal

Luxembourg

Slovak Republic
Belgium

Japan
Slovenia

Estonia

Czech Republic
Switzerland

New Zealand

Sweden
United Kingdom

All secondary Primary

Education at a Glance 2015 did not include the proportion of total primary and
secondary school funding coming from public sources. It provides a figure for this for all
schooling and post-schooling levels below diploma combined. This proportion in New
Zealand was 83% compared to the OECD average of 91%.
Public expenditure on education as a percentage of total public expenditure in New
Zealand is relatively high at 4.8% at the primary level, and 7.9% at the secondary level.
This compares with 3.6% and 4.7% respectively across the OECD.
Public expenditure as a percentage of GDP is also relatively high, with 1.6% of GDP
invested at the primary level, and 2.6% invested at the secondary level. This compares
with 1.5% and 2.0% respectively across the OECD.

Student-teacher ratios are a little higher in New Zealand

Student-teacher ratios, as reported in EAG, take the number of full-time equivalent
students and divide by the number of full-time equivalent teachers. As such, the
measure is one of resource allocation, rather than an indication of average class size.
At the primary level, there were 16 FTE students for every FTE teacher, compared to
the OECD average of 15. At the lower-secondary level there are 16 FTE students for
every FTE teacher compared to 13 across the OECD. At the upper-secondary level
there are 13 FTE students per FTE teacher, the same as the OECD average. These
rates were similar to those seen in Australia and Ireland, and below the rates observed
in the United Kingdom.

15
Teachers’ salaries start lower but increase faster than their OECD
counterparts
Teachers at primary, lower-secondary and upper-secondary have slightly lower starting
statutory salaries than the OECD averages6. However, after 10 years of experience,
New Zealand teachers have reached their maximum statutory salary on average and
will earn around 10% more than the average OECD counterpart. After 15 years, the
salaries of New Zealand teachers are still above their respective OECD averages. At
the top of the scale, the New Zealand salaries are below the OECD average. When
considered relative to national wealth, New Zealand teacher salaries as a proportion of
GDP per capita were above the OECD average.

Figure 17 Upper-secondary teachers’ salaries at different points in their careers (2013)

USD PPP
100,000

80,000

60,000

40,000

20,000

0
Turkey
Iceland
Norway

United States

Israel
Denmark

Canada
Australia

Finland

Austria

France

Italy

Czech Republic
Netherlands

Chile
Germany

Spain

OECD average

Korea
England

Greece

Poland

Hungary
Slovak Republic
Ireland

Portugal
Luxembourg

New Zealand

Japan

Slovenia

Estonia
Sweden
Belgium (Fl.)

Belgium (Fr.)

Scotland

Starting salary Salary after 10 years of experience

Salary after 15 years of experience Salary at top of scale

In most OECD countries, tertiary educated teachers earn less than other tertiary
educated workers. Across the OECD, teachers earn a little over 80% of what
equivalently educated workers earn. New Zealand was one of nine countries where
teachers with 15 years experience earned about the same or higher than the average
for tertiary qualified adults aged 25 to 64. At the primary level, statutory teacher salaries
in New Zealand were slightly lower than average annual earnings for tertiary-educated
adults, while at secondary level, they were slightly higher.
New Zealand teachers have more statutory days teaching per year than the OECD
average across all school levels. Teachers in New Zealand also spend more hours
teaching per year. Teachers at the primary level are required to teach 922 hours per
year, compared to 772 across the OECD. Teachers at upper-secondary teach 760
hours a year, compared to 643 across the OECD.

6
This section relates to statutory (i.e. contracted) salary rate comparisons.

16
Figure 18 The number of net statutory teaching hours per year (2013)
1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0
England

Portugal

Japan
Mexico

Ireland

France

Austria

Norway
Canada

Italy

Israel

Poland

Turkey

Denmark
Hungary
Chile

Czech Republic

Slovenia
Scotland

Netherlands

Germany
Spain

OECD average
Australia
New Zealand

Luxembourg

Korea
Iceland

Greece
Belgium (Fl.)

Finland
Belgium (Fr.)

Estonia
Slovak Republic
Upper secondary Primary Lower secondary

School teachers across the OECD are more likely to be female. In New Zealand, the
proportion of teachers who are female were similar to OECD averages; 83% at the
primary level, 65% at lower-secondary and 60% at upper-secondary.
Teachers in New Zealand are a little older than teachers across the OECD countries.
Over 40% were aged 50 or over compared to the OECD average of 35%. The 50 plus
group has grown as a share of all teachers by 2% on average per year since 2005, with
this growth concentrated in the 60 plus age group. Around 10% of New Zealand
teachers were under the age of 30, about the same share as the OECD average.

Figure 19 Secondary school teachers aged 50 years and over and the average annual growth rate (2005-
2013)
80
Percentage of teachers aged 50 years and over

70 Italy

60

50 Germany Slovak Republic

United States Sweden Austria
New Zealand
40 Greece
Finland Switzerland
Ireland France Israel Hungary Spain Slovenia
30 Portugal
Belgium Poland Korea
Luxembourg
20 Chile

United Kingdom
10

0
-4 -2 0 2 4 6 8 10
Average annual growth rate between 2005 - 2013

17
ICT use in teaching and learning
New Zealand and Australia have the lowest ratios of students per computer. Our 15
year-olds have also accessed the internet sooner than many other OECD countries
(over 70% before the age of 10 compared with an OECD average of 57%).
New Zealand 15 year-olds spent about the same amount of time using computers at
school as the OECD average (25 minutes per weekday), with 16% spending more than
one hour per day, compared with a 17% OECD average; and 85% spending an hour or
less per day, compared with an 83% OECD average. Compared with other countries,
fewer of our school principals reported that a lack of ICT resources impacted negatively
on the ability of their school to teach.
New Zealand TALIS data features in EAG 2015 for the first time. More of our Year 7 to
10 teachers say their students use ICT frequently (55% compared with 40%) placing us
in the top 10 behind Australia. More of our teachers participated in professional ICT
skills for teaching training, and slightly less than average reported a high need for
professional development in this area. Of those that did participate in such professional
development, 70% found it had had a moderate or large positive impact.

Figure 20 The time spent on the internet at school, and the ratio of students to computers (2012)

percent ratio
100 10

90 9

80 8

70 7

60 6

50 5

40 4

30 3

20 2

10 1

0 0

More than 2 hours 1-2 hours

1-60 min No time
Ratio of students to computers (right-hand scale)

Evaluation and assessment in schools

New to Education at a Glance 2015 is an indicator on evaluation and assessment
practices in schools. This includes system-level descriptive comparisons of:
 examinations and assessments, including subjects covered
 whether or not the results are shared and with whom
 if the results are used to create school league tables
 school inspection and school self-evaluation.

18
New Zealand is similar to many countries in terms of national examinations and
assessments. For example, almost all OECD countries have national examinations at
the upper-secondary level, while national assessments are more common at the lower-
secondary and primary level. The main purpose given for examinations at the upper-
secondary level is to determine access to tertiary education.
The number of subjects included in national examinations at the upper-secondary level
varies widely between OECD countries. New Zealand is in a group of five countries with
10 or more subjects included. Reading, writing and literature was examined by all 28
reporting OECD countries, followed by mathematics (27), and natural sciences (24).
The sharing of examination and assessment results is common across the OECD. New
Zealand is one of a few countries that make results at a school level publicly available.
No countries reported that they published school ranking tables. However, of the
countries that make school-level examination results public, five countries, including
New Zealand, reported that outside groups prepare and make available school-level
rankings of upper secondary examination results. A couple of other countries take
measures to prohibit the publication of rankings.
School inspections at upper-secondary level were reported as a feature in almost all
OECD countries. For most countries these are completed every three or more years.
About half of OECD countries, including New Zealand, report that the school
inspections target low-performing schools. A majority of countries who conduct these
inspections make the results publicly available.
School self-evaluations at the upper-secondary level are done in most OECD countries,
and these are mostly done on an annual basis. The most common areas that are
covered by these self-assessments are: student performance, quality of instruction,
quality of curriculum and instructional materials, and compliance with rules and
regulations.

Teacher and school leader appraisal

Monitoring and appraising teachers is central to improving schools and learning
environments. The majority of OECD countries have legislated teacher and school
leader appraisal, with most of these countries completing appraisals for all teachers and
school leaders.
For most of the countries who reported this, including New Zealand, teacher appraisal
was mandatory both for teacher registration and completion of probation, as well as for
regular ongoing appraisal. Teacher appraisals in most countries covered planning and
preparation, instruction, classroom environment and professional development.
Appraisals of school leaders are usually completed every three years or more for the 16
countries with available data. The most common reason given for school leader
appraisal was in relation to a decision on their employment status. Other reasons given
for the undertaking of appraisals were: at the discretion of the school board or
education authority, in relation to a complaint, and voluntary appraisal.
School leader appraisals typically cover a wide variety of areas, with the vast majority of
reporting countries including the following in their appraisals: general leadership,
pedagogical/instructional leadership, organisational development, school climate,
community relations, evaluation and accountability, resource management and
interpersonal skills.
In New Zealand, school leader appraisal may inform professional development
activities, but not directly career advancement. In some OECD countries, a one-off
financial bonus and a permanent salary increment were common.

19
Outcomes for underperformance vary between OECD countries. New Zealand was in a
group of countries where underperformance may lead to further appraisal, suspension
or dismissal. In other OECD countries, in addition to further appraisal, deferral of
promotion and having a salary increment withheld were common outcomes of
underperformance.

20
TERTIARY EDUCATION

Education at a Glance uses the International Standard Classification of Education

(ISCED) to define the levels of education. Under ISCED 2011, ‘tertiary education’
corresponds to diploma level and above. All post-secondary education at levels 1 to 3
on the New Zealand Qualification Framework are grouped with ‘upper secondary’ under
ISCED, while education at level 4 is classified as ‘post secondary non-tertiary’. While
the term ‘tertiary education’ as used in New Zealand can cover any level done in a post-
school setting, in Education at a Glance comparisons it relates to just diploma level and
above.

Tertiary attainment
New Zealand also has slightly above average levels of tertiary attainment at degree
level or higher, with 30% compared to the OECD average of 28%.
New Zealand has a slightly above average proportion of adults with a diploma or
higher-level qualification. Thirty-six percent of New Zealand adults aged 25 to 64 have
a diploma or higher qualification compared to 33% across the OECD. Diploma or above
attainment rates for New Zealand men and women were also both above their
respective OECD averages.7

Figure 21 Percentage of 25-64 year-olds with diploma or higher qualification (2014)

percent
60

50

40

30

20

10

0
Norway

Belgium
Denmark

Turkey
Israel

Ireland

France
Austria

Japan

Portugal

Mexico
Canada

United States

Spain
Netherlands
OECD average

Germany
Poland
Slovenia

Hungary

Chile

Italy
Korea

Australia

Czech Republic
Finland

Switzerland
Sweden

Iceland
Luxembourg

New Zealand

Greece
United Kingdom

Estonia

Slovak Republic

Diploma and above Bachelor degree

When level 4 qualifications are included New Zealand has a relatively high attainment
rate, and is in the top three countries with Canada and Ireland. New Zealand has a
large proportion of adults with post-secondary non-tertiary (level 4 certificates)
qualifications at 16%, above the OECD average of 5%. The proportion of adults with at
least a level 4 qualification is 52%, compared to the OECD average of 41%.

7
Changes made in 2013 to New Zealand’s Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS) see a shift in the proportion with
diplomas to level 4 and therefore an apparent (i.e. non-real) drop in diploma attainment when compared with previous
editions.

21
Figure 22 Percentage of 25-64 year-olds with level 4 qualifications and higher (2014)
percent
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Ireland

France

Portugal
Israel
Japan

Norway

Belgium
Germany

Denmark

Austria

Turkey
Mexico
Canada

United States

OECD average

Netherlands
Spain

Poland
Australia

Sweden

Iceland

Hungary

Italy
Slovenia

Czech Republic
Finland

Switzerland

Chile
New Zealand

Luxembourg

Korea

Greece
Estonia

United Kingdom

Slovak Republic
Level 4 qualification Diploma Bachelor degree or higher

It is less common for New Zealanders to hold a master’s degree. New Zealand has
more bachelor’s degree qualified adults, 26% compared to the OECD average of 16%,
but fewer master’s degree qualified adults, 4% compared to 11% over the OECD.
Younger adults have higher levels of tertiary educational attainment in New Zealand
and across the OECD. In New Zealand, 40% of 25 to 34 year-olds have a diploma or
above qualification compared to 36% of 25 to 64 year-olds.

Figure 23 Percentage of 25 to 34 year-olds with diploma or higher qualification (2014)

percent
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Ireland

Norway

Belgium
France

Denmark

Austria

Japan

Turkey
Canada

Israel

United States

Portugal
Luxembourg

Poland

Slovenia

Hungary

Mexico
Switzerland

Spain
OECD average

Czech Republic

Germany
Australia

Sweden

Netherlands

Iceland
New Zealand

Greece

Chile

Italy
Korea

United Kingdom

Finland
Estonia

Slovak Republic

Diploma and above Bachelor degree

However, New Zealand’s older adults have higher tertiary attainment compared to the
OECD averages than younger New Zealand adults. New Zealanders aged 30 to 64 had
tertiary attainment above the respective OECD averages, by between 2 and 4
percentage points. For younger adults aged 25 to 34, tertiary attainment is 0.3% below
the OECD average.

22
Women are more likely to have a tertiary qualification
Across the OECD, 35% of women have a tertiary qualification, compared to 32% of
men. In only nine OECD countries was the proportion of men with a tertiary qualification
higher than that of women. This holds for all levels except doctorate level, where
attainment rates for men and women were about the same.
In New Zealand, the proportion of women that have a diploma or higher-level
qualification was 5.7 percentage points higher than that for men. The difference was
largest at bachelor’s level where attainment is 4.3 percentage points higher for women,
compared to 2.5 percentage points across the OECD.
Among young adults aged 25 to 34, the gender differences across the OECD are much
larger, with 10% more women than men having a diploma or higher-level qualification.
There were just three countries in the OECD where the proportion of men with a
diploma or higher qualification was higher than that for women. In New Zealand, 45% of
women aged 25 to 34 have a diploma or higher qualification, compared to 35% of men
in the same age group. At the bachelor’s degree level, the attainment rate for women
aged 25 to 34 is 8.8 percentage points higher than that for men, this compares with an
average of 5.9 percentage points across the OECD.

Figure 24 Differences in gender tertiary attainment – by level and age group (2014)

12
percent difference between women and men

10

-2
25-64 25-34 25-64 25-34 25-64 25-34 25-64 25-34 25-64 25-34
Diploma Bachelor Master Doctorate Total tertiary

OECD New Zealand

Participation in tertiary education in New Zealand is above average

New Zealand has above average levels of participation at core tertiary ages (18 to 20)
and relatively very high participation at older ages. New Zealand has relatively high
participation in vocational programmes, especially at level 4, and has one of the highest
levels of part-time study.
New Zealand, along with Australia, Iceland, Sweden and Finland all have enrolment
rates for ages 30 to 39 over 10%. In all of these countries, and on average in the
OECD, women are more likely than men to be enrolled in this age group. For people
aged 40 to 64, New Zealand had the third highest enrolment rate, at 5.1%, behind
Finland and Australia. New Zealand has the 3rd largest proportion of first-time entrants
that are over 25 years old, at 30%.

23
Enrolment of young adults in New Zealand is high, being in the top ten. Enrolment at
ages 19 and 20 are also above their respective OECD averages and similar to
Australia, Spain and France.
Around 28% of 20 to 29 year-olds were enrolled in education in 2013, similar to the
OECD average. By age 39, New Zealanders will have completed an average of 18.0
years of education, above the OECD average of 17.4 years.
In part, this reflects the fact that master's study is more common in some countries for
gaining professional qualifications, whereas in New Zealand these are often delivered
at bachelor's degree level.
New Zealand has relatively high participation in vocational programmes, especially at
level 4, and has one of the highest levels of part-time study. New Zealand ranks in the
top five countries for enrolments into part-time study at all levels of tertiary education.
First time entry into bachelor’s and master’s degrees varies widely across the OECD.
New Zealand has a relatively low entry rate into master’s degree programmes.
Figure 25 First-time entry rates into bachelor’s and master’s degrees (excluding international students and
older students) (2013)
percent
100

80

60

40

20

0
Portugal

Norway
Slovenia

Czech Republic

Finland
Ireland

Sweden

Chile

Luxembourg
Iceland

Germany

New Zealand
United Kingdom
Belgium

Denmark

United States
Netherlands

OECD average
Estonia

Australia

Spain

Israel

Austria

Bachelor’s or equivalent (under 25) Master’s or equivalent (under 30)

The headline entry rates in Education at a Glance include both international students
and students of all ages. This inflates New Zealand’s entry rates because of the high
proportion of international students and students entering at older ages.

24
Figure 26 First-time entry rates into diploma or above programmes (2013)
percent
100

80

60

40

20

0
Portugal
Denmark

Belgium

Austria
Poland

United States
Slovenia

Chile

Netherlands

Czech Republic

New Zealand

OECD average

Germany
Iceland

United Kingdom

Sweden

Luxembourg
Finland
Slovak Republic
Domestic students younger than 25 Total first-time entry rate Excluding international students

Across the 24 OECD countries that supplied data, 54% of first-time tertiary entrants
were women, in New Zealand it was 56%. Only three countries in the OECD have the
share of male tertiary entrants higher than that for females. In New Zealand, the share
of female entrants into sciences and engineering bachelor programmes was 41%, the
highest in the OECD, and above the OECD average of 29%.
In New Zealand, 17% of tertiary entrants go into the sciences, the 2nd highest, below
the United Kingdom. However, New Zealand has the 2nd lowest rate of entry into
engineering, manufacturing and construction programmes. New Zealand also has
relatively high entry rates into humanities and arts programmes, with the 4th highest
entry rate in the OECD. These shares are similar to those of the United Kingdom.

Figure 27 Entry into tertiary education by field of programme (2013)

percent
30

25

20

15

10

0
Belgium
Germany

Israel

Japan

Norway
Mexico

Austria

Turkey

Denmark
Italy

Poland
Slovenia

Chile

Czech Republic
Hungary
Switzerland

Netherlands
Korea

Sweden
Finland

New Zealand
United Kingdom

Luxembourg
Slovak Republic

Engineering, manufacturing and construction Sciences Humanities and arts

25
New Zealand has a relatively high share of international students
New Zealand has a relatively large proportion of international students. At diploma level
and above, 16% of students were international students, compared to the OECD
average of 9%. Only six countries had proportions over 15%, namely, Luxembourg,
Australia, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Austria and New Zealand.
At the diploma level, New Zealand and Iceland, at 21%, have the largest proportion of
international students. At the doctoral level in New Zealand, 43% were international
students, compared to 24% over the OECD. This was the third largest, behind
Luxembourg and Switzerland. New Zealand’s large proportion reflects the policy in New
Zealand, that international PhD students pay the same fees as domestic students.
International postgraduate study is much more popular than undergraduate, with far
larger shares of international students studying master’s and doctoral programmes
across OECD countries.
Nearly 30% of New Zealand’s international students came from China, 17% from India,
and 6.4% from Australia. International students from Australia pay the same fees as
domestic students. Australia remains the most popular country for New Zealanders to
study in, with 51% of all New Zealanders studying abroad.
Figure 28 Country of origin for students studying in NZ Country of destination for NZ students overseas (2013)

percent percent
60 60
51
50 50

40 40
30 29
30 30
23
20 17 20
8.9 8.2
10 6.4 5.4 10
3.4 2.4 1.8 2.0 2.0 1.5 1.2 1.1 0.9 0.7
1.4 1.3 1.0 0.9 0.9
0 0
China

Japan

Indonesia

Other
Korea

Germany
India

United Kingdom
United States
Australia

Saudi Arabia

Canada
France

Japan

Switzerland

Other
United Kingdom

Germany

Korea

Denmark
United States
Australia

Canada

France

While New Zealand’s proportion of international students is large relative to other

OECD countries, its overall share globally of international students is around 1% of the
4 million reported international students. This makes New Zealand the 16th largest
market in the OECD.

26
Figure 29 Share of international students by tertiary education level (2013)
percent
60

50

40

30

20

10

France
Belgium
Japan
Norway

Ireland

Denmark

Austria
United States
Portugal
Mexico

Hungary
Chile
Poland

Spain

Germany

OECD average
Canada

Netherlands
Slovenia

Sweden

Iceland

Switzerland
Finland

Australia
Luxembourg
New Zealand

United Kingdom
Estonia

Slovak Republic

Total tertiary education Master’s or equivalent level Doctoral or equivalent level

Note: The shares of international students in master’s and doctorate programmes in Luxembourg are 67 and 84 percent respectively.

Investment in tertiary education

Expenditure comparisons in EAG 2015 relate to the 2012 reference year, which for New
Zealand is the 2012/2013 financial year. Annual expenditure per student by tertiary
educational institutions for New Zealand was 17th out of 32 reporting countries, below
the OECD average. Spending per student at diploma level was above average and in
the top half, while spending at the bachelor’s degree level and higher, was below
average but above the median.

Figure 30 Annual expenditure per student by educational institutions for all services (2012)
35,000
USD, converted using Purchasing Power Parity

30,000

25,000

20,000

15,000

10,000

5,000

0
Norway

France
United States

Turkey
Switzerland

Germany
Japan

Austria
Belgium

Ireland

Israel

Portugal

Hungary

Mexico
Canada

OECD average

Spain

Italy

Poland
Sweden

Netherlands

Australia

Slovenia

Iceland
Czech Republic

Korea

Chile
United Kingdom

Finland
Luxembourg

New Zealand

Slovak Republic

Estonia

All tertiary (excluding R&D) All tertiary

27
This year’s report reflects improvements made in the reporting of tertiary expenditures
from private non-household sources. The change is reflected in a higher proportion of
institutional funding that comes from private non-household sources, such as
businesses and private research funding, and a corresponding lower proportion from
public sources when compared with previous editions of EAG. New Zealand tertiary
institutions received 48% of their funding from private sources, and 52% from public
sources, compared to the one-third, two-thirds split previously reported.
The split between public and private funding now puts us in line with a group that
includes Australia, Canada, United Kingdom and United States, i.e. with those countries
that support higher private tuition costs through well-developed government subsidised
financial support.

Figure 31 Sources of tertiary funding to educational institutions (2012)

100

80

60

40

20

0 France
Japan

Turkey

Belgium

Norway
Austria
Israel
Portugal

Mexico

Ireland
United States

Hungary
Canada

Italy

OECD average

Spain

Poland
Netherlands

Slovak Republic

Germany
Chile

Australia

Czech Republic

Slovenia
Sweden

Iceland

Finland
Korea

New Zealand

United Kingdom

Luxembourg
Estonia

Other private entities Households Public Sources

New Zealand’s economy is relatively small compared to other OECD countries.

Expenditure indicators that are relative to national wealth, compare more favourably for
New Zealand. Expenditure from both public and private sources by tertiary educational
institutions as a percentage of GDP was in the top five in the OECD at 1.9% – following
the United States, Chile, Canada and Korea. Expenditure as a percentage of GDP at
the diploma level and bachelor level and above were in the top third and top quarter
respectively.

28
Figure 32 Annual expenditure on tertiary education institutions from public and private sources as a
percentage of GDP (2012)
percent of GDP
3

3
OECD average
2

Norway
Austria

Denmark

France
Belgium
Israel
Japan

Portugal
Poland

Mexico
Ireland
United States

Canada

Netherlands
Sweden

Hungary
Spain

Germany

Italy
Chile

Australia

Czech Republic

Slovenia
Iceland
Korea

Finland

Switzerland
New Zealand

Estonia
United Kingdom

Slovak Republic
All tertiary Diploma level Bachelor’s, Master’s, Doctoral or equivalent level

Spending per student relative to GDP per capita allows investment to be viewed after
accounting for both differences in relative national wealth, as well as national
demographic differences. Annual expenditure per student by tertiary educational
institutions as a percentage of GDP per capita for all tertiary was 43%, above the
OECD average and in the top half.

Figure 33 Annual expenditure per student by educational institutions, as a percentage of GDP per capita
(2012)

70
60
percent of GDP per capita

50
40
30
20
10
0
United States

Japan

Belgium
France
Norway

Portugal

Ireland
Mexico

Austria

Italy

Denmark
Canada

Poland

Israel

Slovenia
Hungary

Czech Republic
Switzerland

OECD average
Sweden

Netherlands

Germany

Spain
Chile
New Zealand

Australia

Korea

Iceland
United Kingdom

Finland

Estonia
Slovak Republic

All tertiary Diploma level Bachelor’s, Master’s, Doctoral or equivalent level

New Zealand is in a group of countries including Australia, the United States and the
United Kingdom, which have relatively high tuition fees and high levels of financial
support. Some of the Nordic countries form a group with low tuition fees and high
financial support, and most of the other European countries have relatively low tuition
fees and low financial support.

29
Figure 34 Average tuition fees in public tertiary education institutions and public financial support (2013)

10,000
United Kingdom
9,000
Average tuition fees USD PPP

8,000
United States
7,000
Ireland Chile
6,000
Japan
5,000 Australia
4,000
New Zealand
3,000
Netherlands
2,000
Switzerland Austria Italy
1,000
Belgium (Fl.) Norway Sweden
France Turkey
0 Belgium (Fr.) Denmark
Mexico Finland
0 20 40 60 80 100
Percentage of students who benefit from public loans and/or scholarships/grants
Note: Data for Sweden, Netherlands, Denmark, Chile, Japan, Ireland and Mexico are from Education at a Glance 2014 and cover the
2010/2011 academic year.

30
THE BENEFITS OF EDUCATION

New Zealand workers have relatively high employment across all

education levels
Overall, 80% of adults aged 25 to 64 in New Zealand are employed, this puts New
Zealand in the top 5 in the OECD and above the average of 73%. In terms of gender,
88% of men are employed, which puts New Zealand in the top 5 in the OECD, while
74% of women are employed, which is in the top 10 and above Canada, the United
Kingdom, Australia and the United States.
New Zealand has one of the smallest differences in employment rates between the
most and the least educated. New Zealand is in a group with Portugal, Iceland,
Luxembourg, and Switzerland where employment rates are high and the difference
between the most educated and the least educated is less than 25%.
New Zealand is also one of five countries where people with diploma qualifications
have an employment rate higher than 85%.
Figure 35 Employment rates for adults aged 25 to 64 – by educational attainment (2014)
percent
100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30
Poland

Finland

Greece
Japan
Norway

Switzerland
Germany

Luxembourg

Chile
Iceland

New Zealand

Czech Republic

Slovenia

Portugal
Hungary

Ireland
United States
Slovak Republic
Sweden

United Kingdom

Italy
Mexico

Korea
Denmark

Belgium
Netherlands

Israel

OECD average

Australia
Austria

France
Estonia

Turkey
Canada

Spain

Diploma and above qualifications Upper-secondary and level 4 qualifications Below upper-secondary

New Zealand men have employment rates above the OECD average at every level of
tertiary education. For New Zealand women, employment rates are above the OECD
average for diploma and bachelor’s degree qualified adults, and slightly below the
OECD average at the master’s and doctorate level.
Employment for 25 to 34 year-olds is higher in New Zealand than across the OECD,
this is especially true for those with the lowest educational attainment. In New Zealand,
65% of those with below upper-secondary education are in employment, placing New
Zealand in the top 10 in the OECD and above Australia, the United States, the United
Kingdom and Canada.
The difference in employment rates between the most educated and least educated
across the OECD can be large. New Zealand is one of only six countries where the
employment rate for young tertiary educated workers is over 85% and the employment
rate of those with below upper-secondary is less than 25 percentage points lower.

31
Figure 36 Employment rates for adults aged 25-34 by educational attainment (2014)
percent
100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30
Poland
Belgium
Norway

France

Austria

Portugal
Mexico
Israel

Denmark
Ireland

Turkey
Canada

United States

Hungary

Spain

Italy
Netherlands
Germany
Switzerland

Chile
Australia

OECD average

Slovenia

Czech Republic
Iceland

Sweden

New Zealand

Finland

Korea

Greece
United Kingdom

Luxembourg

Estonia

Slovak Republic
Below upper-secondary Upper-secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary Tertiary

Across the OECD there are some large differences in unemployment rates between
educational attainment levels. The average difference in unemployment between those
with the highest qualifications and those with the lowest across the OECD is 11.3%. In
New Zealand, the difference was 5.7%.

Figure 37 Unemployment rates for adults aged 25-34 by educational attainment (2014)

percent
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
New Zealand

Germany

Poland
Norway

Switzerland
Portugal
Finland

Hungary

Czech Republic
Slovenia

Greece
Korea
Iceland

Chile

United Kingdom
Luxembourg

Sweden

Ireland
Mexico

Slovak Republic
Belgium
Italy
Turkey

United States
Australia

Denmark
Netherlands

Estonia

OECD average
Israel

Canada

Austria

France

Spain

Below upper-secondary Diploma and above qualifications Upper-secondary and level 4 qualifications

New Zealand has relatively low earnings premiums

In New Zealand, for 25 to 34 year-olds, the earnings premiums of tertiary educated
workers over the earnings of upper-secondary workers are smaller than most OECD
countries.

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However, young people with bachelor’s degrees still earn 35% more on average than
workers with upper-secondary education, and for a master’s or doctorate degree, the
premium is 56%. This compares with 40% and 69% respectively across the OECD. The
premiums are much larger for older workers (aged 55 to 64) with a master’s or
doctorate qualification, at 116%. This is observed across the OECD.
Young New Zealand workers with level 4 certificates have a relatively large earning
advantage, 21% over those with upper-secondary only. This compares with 11% across
the OECD.
Those workers with below an upper-secondary education earn 92% on average of what
someone with an upper-secondary education earns, this compares with 77% across the
OECD.

Figure 38 Relative earnings of workers aged 25 to 34 over those with upper-secondary, by educational
attainment (2013)

percent
250

200

150

100

50
Poland
Norway

Switzerland
Greece

Finland

Japan

Slovenia

Czech Republic

Portugal

Hungary
Sweden

Korea

Luxembourg

Ireland
Denmark

New Zealand

Slovak Republic

Mexico
Chile
Italy

Belgium

United Kingdom

United States
Australia
Estonia

Netherlands
OECD average

Turkey
Austria

Canada

Spain
France

Israel

Diploma and above Level 4 qualifications Bachelor's degree Master's or doctoral degree

For all adults aged 25 to 64, New Zealand is in a group of Nordic countries, Australia
and Canada where the earnings differences between those with upper secondary
education and those with a higher level qualification are relatively small.
Generally, earnings premiums for all adults aged 25 to 64 are larger than those of
younger adults. This may reflect the value tertiary education may provide to increase an
individual’s skills and experience through their working life compared with less qualified
adults. In addition, the gaps between level 4 qualifications and higher levels are much
smaller for workers aged 25 to 34. In particular, the gap between the premiums for a
master’s or doctoral degree compared to a bachelor’s degree is much smaller for these
younger workers.

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Figure 39 Relative earnings of workers aged 25 to 64 over those with an upper-secondary, by educational
attainment (2013)
percent
300

250

200

150

100

50

0
Norway

Belgium

France
Denmark

Japan
Austria

Ireland
Israel
Portugal

Turkey
Canada

Spain

United States

Mexico
Hungary
Italy

Greece

Switzerland
Netherlands

OECD average

Poland

Slovenia
Czech Republic

Chile
Sweden

Australia

Slovak Republic
Finland
New Zealand

United Kingdom

Luxembourg
Estonia

Diploma and above Level 4 qualifications Bachelor's degree Master's or doctoral degree

New Zealanders with tertiary education have always earned a smaller premium over
workers with upper-secondary compared to the OECD average. Since 2000, there has
been no growth in the premium across the OECD. In New Zealand the premium for
men has been stable, while the premium for women has grown.
In 2005, New Zealand adults with a tertiary education earned 20% more on average
than a worker with either upper-secondary or a level 4 qualification. In 2013, the
premium was 28%. The average premium across the OECD over this time was
relatively stable between 54 and 56%.
Across the OECD, women with a tertiary qualification earn 73% of what a man with a
tertiary qualification earns. In New Zealand, women earn 78% of what the average
tertiary educated man earns, this puts New Zealand in the top 5 in the OECD.

New Zealand has relatively low financial returns on investment in

education
Compared with most other OECD countries, public and private returns on investment in
education are lower in New Zealand. The financial return is the present day value of all
the net financial benefits of attaining a qualification relative to the reference educational
qualification. For example, in EAG, the financial return for investing in a tertiary
education is the present day value of all the net financial benefits of attaining a tertiary
qualification over those of someone with an upper-secondary or level 4 qualification.
For New Zealand men, obtaining an upper-secondary or level 4 qualification will yield
them a benefit of $112,000 USD over their working career, above the OECD average of
$107,000 USD. For women, the returns are $25,000 USD, below the OECD average of
$62,000 USD. The public costs for both men and women are below their respective
OECD averages.
In 2011, New Zealand men could expect a net financial benefit of $97,000 USD from
their tertiary qualification and $88,000 USD for women, compared with the OECD
averages of $229,000 USD and $145,000 USD for men and women respectively.

34
Across the OECD, the financial returns to education for women are 63% of those for
men. New Zealand has the smallest difference between private tertiary returns for men
and women and Spain was the only country to report that financial returns to tertiary
education were larger for women.

Figure 40 Private financial returns to tertiary education (2011)

600,000
US Dollars, Purchasing Power Parity

500,000

400,000

300,000

200,000

100,000

Portugal
Denmark

Norway

Israel

Austria
Italy

Canada

Poland
United States
Spain

Germany

OECD average

Slovenia

Czech Republic
Hungary

Chile
Korea
New Zealand

Sweden

Australia
Netherlands
Finland

United Kingdom
Estonia

Slovak Republic
Men Women

The primary factor behind the relatively low returns to education in New Zealand is the
relatively flat earnings premiums between workers with different levels of educational
attainment. To illustrate, in New Zealand the gross earnings benefit, that is, the present
day value of all the extra earnings a tertiary educated person will earn over the earnings
of someone with upper-secondary or a level 4 qualification, is about half the OECD
average for New Zealand men, and 62% of the average for New Zealand women.
The public financial returns to tertiary education are much smaller in New Zealand. The
majority of the public benefits are gained from the increased tax revenue collected from
the higher wages of tertiary educated workers. The public returns are smaller in New
Zealand primarily because the earnings premiums of tertiary educated workers are
small and therefore the extra tax revenue collected is also comparatively small.

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Figure 41 Public financial returns to tertiary education (2011)
300,000

250,000
US Dollars, Purchasing Power Parity

200,000

150,000

100,000

50,000

Norway
Denmark
Israel

Austria
Portugal
Canada

Poland
OECD average

Netherlands
Germany
Czech Republic

Italy

United States
Slovenia
Hungary
Korea

Spain

Chile
Australia
Sweden

Switzerland

Finland
New Zealand
Estonia

United Kingdom
Slovak Republic

Men Women
Financial returns to investment in education are sensitive to economic cycles as factors
such as employment, unemployment and earnings are all included in the calculation of
the indicator. Education at a Glance 2015 uses the 2011 year for the financial returns
indicator. In 2011, many OECD countries were still feeling the effects of economic
recession and faced relatively high unemployment for those with lower education levels.
Economic recession is more likely to affect those with lower levels of education and
therefore increase the relative benefits of having higher levels of education. As
economies improve, returns to tertiary education fall as those with lower education
levels are more likely to become employed and their earnings increase.
An economic analysis of this commissioned by The Treasury in 20138 identified the
following factors as accounting for nearly half the difference in the return on tertiary
qualifications between New Zealand and the OECD average for men, and more than
half of the difference among women.
The mix of qualifications in New Zealand compared with other countries, shows that it
has a low proportion of its population with a postgraduate qualification, and a higher
proportion with a diploma, and this acts to lower relative earnings.
New Zealand has a high proportion of degree-qualified migrants in the labour market.
Migrants tend to have lower earnings than New Zealand-educated graduates in the
short and medium term.
Another factor is the mix of qualifications in the reference group (below upper-
secondary qualified). New Zealand is one of a handful of countries with a one-year
upper-secondary qualification, which under international definitions does not count as
upper-secondary qualified, but which does attract an earnings premium compared with
those with no qualifications. New Zealand’s relatively higher qualified below upper-
secondary qualified group therefore further acts to reduce comparative returns.
Similarly, the upper-secondary or level 4 qualification reference group is heavily
weighted with workers that have level 4 qualifications. This skews the earnings of this
group upwards, thus lowering the returns to tertiary education.

8
Zuccollo, J., Maani, S., Kaye-Blake, W. & Zeng, L.(2013) Private returns to tertiary education: how does New Zealand compare to
the OECD?, Wellington: New Zealand Treasury.

36
Student loans are not explicitly considered in the OECD's calculation of rates of return.
Including student loans would act to increase returns, since what a student actually has
to repay later is in real terms often less than what they borrowed depending on post-
study repayment, interest payments and write-off provisions.

There are a range of social benefits associated with education

 This year's EAG looks at how education levels, literacy skills and numeracy
skills relate to five social indicators: self-reported health, volunteering, trust of
others, whether others take advantage, and whether you think you have a say in
government.
 The results for both skill types, and for level, follow previously published patterns
based on other sources. There is a definite positive association between
education level, literacy and numeracy skill level and these indicators. Further,
there is a level (or qualification) effect over and above the association with skills.
 The social outcomes of education section in EAG 2015 are based entirely on
results from the 2012 Survey of Adult Life Skills (PIAAC). New Zealand did not
participate in this first round, so there are no results here for New Zealand.9
However, in EAG 2013, New Zealand was included in two indicators of the
social benefits associated with education: obesity and smoking rates. Both
indicators showed a strong negative relationship with education across OECD
countries.
 In EAG 2013, the New Zealand smoking rate for those with below upper-
secondary education was 37% compared with 12% for those with tertiary
education. The rate of smoking for those with less than upper secondary
education was just below the OECD average, while the rate for those with upper
secondary or tertiary education was much lower than the OECD average.

9
New Zealand is participating in Round 2 of PIAAC, with first results expected in 2016.

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