Rural school students less likely to get University Entrance than urban school students, Auckland University study finds

Dr Kyle Eggleton, associate dean of rural at the University of Auckland, has authored a report that shows rural students are less likely to gain University Entrance. Photo / University of Auckland

Students at rural schools are less likely to gain NCEA Level 3 or University Entrance than their counterparts at urban schools, a new study has found.

The study, published in the Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand today, found students who attended rural schools were about 15 per cent less likely to gain University Entrance between 2012 and 2021.

The disparity in attaining NCEA Level 3 was also clear, although slightly smaller.

The study authors voiced concern over the ability of rural students to get into competitive university courses, but a rural school principal said smaller rolls meant they had the ability to develop individual plans for students - many of whom did not aspire to university-level study.

The University of Auckland research was focused on how the disparity could impact entrance to medical school in light of the lack of GPs in rural areas, but the study’s lead author, Dr Kyle Eggleton, said it would be an issue for students trying to get into any competitive course, including law and engineering.

“Lower educational achievement in rural schools may impact entry into highly competitive medical programmes and disadvantage rural students,” the study concluded.

The study noted rural schools often had a higher Māori roll and a lower decile - both of which were listed as reasons for the difference in achievement.

“Our study findings highlight the disparities in educational achievement between Māori and non-Māori across all school types and socio-economic levels. Furthermore, UE attainment decreased as the proportion of Māori students in a school increased,” the article said.

“Socio-economic disadvantage also appears to be an explanatory factor for rural–urban educational difference, with increasing UE attainment with increasing school decile. In this study, urban schools had a higher mean decile compared to regional and rural schools.”

More resources, more private schools and more single-sex schools could also be among the reasons why students from urban schools often fared better.

Eggleton said the key was to help lift achievement in rural high schools because by university level, “the horse has already bolted”.

He believed better resourcing for small rural schools would make a huge difference, but pointed out it was often a struggle for rural areas to attract specialist teachers.

Hurunui College principal and NZ Area Schools’ Association past president Stephen Beck said it was important to remember NCEA Level 3 and University Entrance were not the only measures of success.

The smaller size of most rural schools meant staff could work with each student to achieve their goal, whether it was to go to university or, for many, straight into a well-paying job in the rural sector or further training, he said.

Because of that, many rural school students did not pursue the highest level of school qualifications and instead focused on vocational standards, which were often offered as part of NCEA Level 2.

“In the area school setting, the individual approach to education is more important than the data,” Beck said.

“If students can make a really good living in the rural workforce, who would deny them that? That absolutely is going to impact on the Level 3 data because a lot of 17 and 18-year-old students are going to transition into that before their external exams.”

While socio-economic status did not determine a student’s abilities, some of the more isolated and disadvantaged communities were more reflective of the study findings, he said.

Some families had lower educational aspirations, while communities with a high Māori population also struggled, he agreed.

“We have traditionally, as a nation, struggled to lift the educational achievement of Māori students.”

Beck also said some of the more academically focused students chose to go to boarding school rather than the local rural school, which meant there was often a more even split between academically and vocationally-focused students.

He also stressed that the overall data was not reflective of all rural or area schools, some of which regularly outperformed their urban counterparts academically.