School Leavers:
This is a comprehensive measure that includes all New Zealand secondary students at a distinct point of time in every student’s schooling life, namely when they finish school. This is the main reporting measure for the Ministry of Education. School leaver data forms the basis of a number of measures, including highest attainment, school leaver destinations (when combined with tertiary data), and retention at school.

Enrolment-based NCEA and University Entrance statistics and New Zealand Scholarship statistics
This measure is used to monitor the progress of students through Years 11 to 13 in NCEA, University Entrance, and New Zealand Scholarship, the national system of senior secondary assessment. This measure does not include students who complete alternative assessments such as Cambridge International Assessment, and International Baccalaureate which are used by around 2.7 percent of students each year. For more information see new enrolment-based measure of NCEA attainment.

Attainment of 18-year-olds
This measure includes all New Zealand secondary students who attended a New Zealand school after their 15th birthday. The measure reports on the number of 18-year-olds who have attained a qualification at Level 2 or above by age 18, it includes attainment of NCEA Level 2 or higher and attainment of other Level 2 qualifications from tertiary institutions and attainment from alternative assessments such as Cambridge International Assessment, and International Baccalaureate.