ERO’s new report Back to Class has found that school attendance is back to pre-Covid levels and students are taking going to school more seriously than three years ago.
“Going to school every day is critical for students’ futures. Students who miss a week each term will have missed out on a year of schooling by the time they are 16,” Ruth Shinoda, Head of ERO’s Education Evaluation Centre, says.
“It is very good news that not only is attendance back to pre-Covid levels with six out of 10 students now attending regularly, but also more students now think school is important.”
The report involved nearly 15,000 students, parents, teachers and leaders from schools across New Zealand. ERO found that eight out of 10 students now think education is important for their future and three-quarters now think going to school every day is important. The number of students never wanting to miss school has almost doubled since 2022.
“The shift we have seen in students’ attitudes reflects both the hard work schools have put in to increase attendance, and the change in parents’ attitudes,” Shinoda says. “Parents’ attitudes to attendance are critical and the good news is that more parents now understand the importance of their child not missing a lot of school.”
Now, only three in 10 parents are comfortable with their child missing a week or more of school a term while this used to be four in 10. Parents are also taking the law requiring attendance more seriously.
ERO’s report identifies five school actions that have had the biggest impact on attendance.
“Schools setting clear expectations, making sure students feel connected to school, and giving students roles and responsibilities at school, providing practical support, and rewarding attendance have had the biggest impact on students’ attendance,” Shinoda says. “For example, students who feel they belong at school are five times more likely to think going every day is important. Schools are doing these things more.”
But there is still further to go to raise attendance.
“We still need to shift parents’ attitudes, so they see their child going to school every day as important,” Shinoda says.
More parents are now comfortable with their child missing a couple of days of school, for example for activities and family events. Schools report that holidays during term time are their biggest challenge. These can disrupt students’ routines and break the habit of attendance.
– This report looks at regular attendance, which is when students attend school more than 90 percent of the time, which means missing fewer than five full days per term.
– ERO collected over 14,600 survey responses, spoke to over 300 participants, and visited 16 case study schools.
– ERO is the New Zealand government’s external evaluation agency for the education system. ERO’s Education Evaluation Centre carries out independent, in-depth research of different aspects of New Zealand’s schools.
Te Whakarōpūtanga Kaitiaki Kura o Aotearoa – The New Zealand School Boards Association (NZSBA) is welcoming the findings of the Education Review Office’s (ERO) new report on school attendance, describing it as a positive reflection of the care and commitment schools across Aotearoa are showing their young people.
NZSBA President Meredith Kennett says it’s encouraging to see both attendance rates returning to pre-COVID levels and a clear positive shift in how students view being at school.
“Getting attendance back to where it was before COVID is no small achievement,” Kennett says.
“Schools and boards have worked incredibly hard to rebuild routines, reconnect families, and remind students that being at school every day really does matter.”
Kennett says it is particularly pleasing to see how strongly students now value attendance.
From 2026, every school board in New Zealand will be required to have an attendance plan in place.
Meanwhile, Te Akatea Māori Principals and Leaders Incorporated has expressed deep concern at the attendance report and the accompanying comments made by ERO leaders about Māori parents and learners.
The report and its framing have caused considerable offence to Māori educators, whānau, and communities. In particular, the statement that “what we are saying isn’t resonating with Māori students or their parents about the importance of school” is harmful. Such commentary disregards the well-documented systemic barriers to attendance, including intergenerational racism, poverty, and bullying, which continue to shape the daily realities of tamariki and rangatahi Māori.
Te Akatea stands firmly as an education peak body advocating for Māori educators and the 97% of tamariki Māori in English-medium schools. We reject research approaches that pathologise Māori learners and whānau without recognising the oppressive histories and structures of colonisation, or the current government’s deprioritisation of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, te reo Māori, tikanga, and mātauranga Māori in education.
We are guided by acclaimed Māori and other Indigenous researchers, whose work has long highlighted the harmful impact of Western research traditions on Indigenous peoples. Their reminders that research has too often been a tool of imperialism and colonisation ring true in this case.
ENDS
