Attendance and Achievement at Palmerston North Boys’ High School in 2023

To help highlight the importance of regular school attendance we are providing you with information illustrating the impact that school attendance had on achievement at Palmerston North Boys’ High School in 2023.

Year 9:

Students who attended school 90% of the time or higher averaged 60.4% across their core subjects (English, mathematics, science, social studies) in the end-of-year examinations.

Students whose attendance was between 80% and 89% averaged 54% across their core subjects (English, mathematics, science, social studies) in the end-of-year examinations.

Achievement dropped for those whose attendance was between 70% and 79% with these students averaging 46.9% across their core subjects (English, mathematics, science, social studies) in the end-of-year examinations.

Year 10:

Students who attended school 90% of the time or higher averaged 60.7% across their core subjects (English, mathematics, science, social studies) in the end-of-year examinations.

Students whose attendance was between 80% and 89% averaged 52.7% across their core subjects (English, mathematics, science, social studies) in the end-of-year examinations.

Achievement dropped for those whose attendance was between 70% and 79% with these students averaging 42% across their core subjects (English, mathematics, science, social studies) in the end-of-year examinations.

Year 11:

At Palmerston North Boys’ High School young men in Year 11 are typically offered an assessment programme at NCEA Level 1 with a reduced credit loading and are not generally expected to gain NCEA qualifications in that year.

Students who attended school 90% of the time or higher achieved on average 61 NCEA credits.

Students who attended school 80% - 89% of the time achieved on average 46 NCEA credits.

Students who attended school 70% - 79% of the time achieved on average 33 NCEA credits.

Year 12:

Students who attended school 90% of the time or higher achieved on average 83 NCEA credits, more than enough to gain an NCEA qualification.

Students who attended school 80% - 89% of the time achieved on average 67 NCEA credits, more than enough to gain an NCEA qualification.

Students who attended school 70% - 79% of the time achieved on average 44 NCEA credits, an insufficient number to gain an NCEA qualification.

Year 13:

Please note that the number of Year 13 students leaving school during the year to begin apprenticeships and employment has had a significant impact on this data.

Students who attended school 90% of the time or higher achieved on average 62 NCEA credits, enough to gain an NCEA qualification.

Students who attended school 80% - 89% of the time achieved on average 49 NCEA credits, an insufficient number to gain an NCEA qualification.

Students who attended school 70% - 79% of the time achieved on average 38 NCEA credits, an insufficient number to gain an NCEA qualification.

Please note that at all year levels there are very few young men whose attendance is below 70% so processing this data did not lead to statistically valid conclusions.

In 2019 research from the New Zealand Ministry of Education (He Whakaaro: What is the relationship between attendance and attainment) identified that "School attendance is the most crucial prerequisite for quality education - students cannot learn if they are not at school." This report concluded that when attendance is below 95% there is a reduction in levels of achievement. While 95% sounds high, it still means missing half a day of school per fortnight.

The New Zealand Ministry of Education uses 90% or higher as its cut-off point for measuring regular attendance. This means that there are students whose level of attendance is harming their academic achievement, yet they are considered regular attendees at school. Interestingly, in some other countries, 90% attendance at school would be the level that triggers concern, rather than having them considered as regular attendees.

In New Zealand, students who attend school 100% of the time achieve, on average, 13 to 15 more credits in NCEA than do students who attend 90% of the time.

In 2019, the then Associate Minister of Education Tracey Martin, in discussing the MOE research identified that the impacts of attendance are cumulative and “students attending 95 percent of days in Year 10 later get an average of 75 credits at Level 3”, easily enough to gain the qualification. Conversely, of “Year 10s who attend 85 percent of the time, only about half go on to achieve NCEA Level 3.”

There is a very clear message here - regular school attendance is essential if your son is to have the opportunity to achieve his potential.  Please Make School the Priority for your son.