This report explores the transition to adulthood of 29 young people selected from the large sample of the Competent Learners @ 20 longitudinal study. That study found many young people had a relatively smooth transition from school to tertiary education. The transition to adulthood of young people who had not followed this well-lit path is the focus of this report. Some left school early (by age 17); others completed Year 13 but did not go on to tertiary study.

The Competent Children, Competent Learners project is a longitudinal study which focuses on a group of about 500 young people from the greater Wellington region (Wellington, Hutt, Kapiti, and Wairarapa). It is funded by the Ministry of Education and the New Zealand Council for Educational Research.

This is the second technical report from the Competent Learners @16 project. It examines the associations between early childhood education experience and young people's competency levels. It finds some aspects of early childhood education still have a statistically visible contribution, 11 years on.

Read more about the Competent children, competent learners project

The New Zealand population as a whole is highly mobile. This can bring benefits to a community, but can also have adverse effects, particularly where there is loss of infrastructure and where people are moving for negative reasons. This report documents the findings of the first phase of a project designed to investigate the educational issues arising in four New Zealand communities affected by residential mobility.