The New Zealand education system
Overseen by the Ministry of Education, New Zealand’s education system focuses on the lifelong learning needs of students. In line with best practice, schools and teachers use a variety of learning materials and techniques to encourage critical thinking. Each student is able to develop their potential along a number of possible pathways to support their academic and/or career goals and interests.
International benchmarking shows that New Zealand’s education system is truly world-class. Regular studies done under OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) find that New Zealand’s 15 year old students perform well above the international mean in reading, mathematical and scientific literacy (Of the 57 countries participating in the latest PISA study, only Finland and Hong Kong performed better than New Zealand).
However although overall achievement is high, there are still many students who struggle to achieve their full potential in the education system. The government, the Ministry of Education and the education sector are all committed to working together to improve outcomes for these students and ensure that every young New Zealander leaves school with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in life.
How the NZ education system is structured
Education in New Zealand can be divided into four areas:
- early childhood education (from birth to five years)
- years 0/1-8 or primary/intermediate school (ages 5-13 years)
- years 9-13 or secondary school (ages 13+)
- tertiary education (not compulsory - ages 16+).