Principals believe a stretched secondary school sector is leading more 15-year-olds to head into further study outside the school system.

New Ministry of Education data shows 1376 secondary students were granted an early leaving exemption last year, out of 1576 applications.

It was the highest number of approvals since 2007.

Ninety percent of them chose to continue studying outside of school - while the other 129 students were approved to go into full-time employment.

By law, young people in New Zealand aged 6 to 16 years old must be enrolled in school.

However there are some situations, where a 15-year-old can leave early.

To be considered for an early leaving exemption, a student must have passed Year 8 numeracy and literacy standards and be enrolled at a secondary school.

PPTA President Chris Abercrombie said school environments aren’t always the best fit for these students.

“I think most of the students will be going on to private training institutes, be it industry training.”

“From my experience, those are often students with a really clear plan, like they want to be a builder, they want to be a plumber,” he added.

Abercrombie said there’s better outcomes for those that stay in schools, but it’s good to see options for all students.

He’s expecting the number of approved exemptions to keep increasing.

“I think it’s just a symptom of a very stretched secondary sector, and the inability of it to currently meet the needs of some of these students - so they’re looking at other places to meet that.”

“We would love a secondary system that meets the needs of all our young people, so they can succeed and be the best they can be, because that’s what we need as a nation.”

Abercrombie said there were a lot of hoops for students to get an exemption, as New Zealand traditionally doesn’t like children leaving school early.

“There’s even already talk of increasing the leaving age to 17. That was one of the documents around the NCEA changes, and so it is definitely a very difficult process to get that early exemption.”

National polytech, Te Pūkenga, had 2,276 15-year-olds studying in some capacity last year.

This included 184 students in its work-based learning division.

CEO Gus Gilmore said there a range of entry requirements for programmes at Te Pūkenga.

He said for lower-level qualifications, applicants may only require three years of secondary schooling, or evidence of a reasonable reading level to show they can follow instructions.

“At Te Pūkenga, we have a legislative responsibility to ensure equitable access to education and training for all learners including rangatahi and those under-served by the education system,” Gilmore said.

“Not all learners flourish in a traditional classroom setting, some may feel it does not meet their learning needs or life-situation.”

“We have a duty of care for making sure all learners have education and training pathways and can succeed. It’s good for them, it’s good for their whānau, their communities and for all of us.”

Jaime Cunningham is a Christchurch-based reporter with a focus on education, social issues and general news. Jaime joined Newstalk ZB in 2023, after working as a sports reporter at the Christchurch Star.