International Comparisons
According to the 2010 Global Peace Index, New Zealand maintains its top place on a list of the world’s most peaceful nations on earth. This is just one more confirmation of why New Zealand is considered to be a safe and welcoming country for international students and visitors alike.
New Zealand has a reputation around the world for a high quality of life.  New Zealanders observe and adopt global trends and technologies.  Mercer Consulting ranks Auckland 4th equal and Wellington 12th in their worldwide ‘top cities with best quality of life’ survey.

Mercer Consulting have also now developed a new ‘Eco-City Rankings’ – and for 2010 Wellington was rated 5th and Auckland 13th.

International organisation Transparency International rated New Zealand as the world’s least corrupt country - along with Denmark and Singapore – out of 180 countries on its 2010 Corruption Perceptions Index.


A World-class Education

Worldwide surveys confirm that there is a depth of quality right across the New Zealand education system.  There is also global value and recognition for New Zealand qualifications. 

Internationally, the Lisbon Convention unanimously approved New Zealand’s request to be included in the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education, which means a New Zealand qualification is recognised and understood in over 50 countries.  New Zealand’s inclusion will make it easier for students to continue study or work around the world after completing their New Zealand qualification.

Students can be less concerned about which New Zealand education provider to choose and concentrate more on which course and part of New Zealand to be in.



International Recognition for School Education - PISA 2009 (OECD Countries)

The international PISA study confirms that New Zealand’s school system performs very well. ‘PISA’ is the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment – an ongoing 3 yearly survey of the achievement levels of 15 year old students carried out across all the major industrialised countries. New Zealand has consistently ranked at or near the top across the range of student achievement and compares favourably with countries such as Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom.

In the 2006 PISA studies, New Zealand and Finland achieved the largest proportion of students performing at the highest level of scientific literacy. Overall rankings were also high for reading and mathematic literacy.



University Rankings

New Zealand’s universities perform very highly on a global level.  Many feature in international university rankings like the QS World University Rankings Top 500 and the Shanghai Jiao Tong Top 500.

The QS World University Rankings are one of the best known international comparative rankings.  Each year, a ranked list is compiled, and the ‘Top 200’ is widely reported, with an extended list of the top 600 also compiled. 

Note:  Prior to 2010, QS aligned with Times Higher Education to produce World University Rankings.  Due to changes in methodology, the organisations are no longer aligned (THES have only widely publicised a top 200 for 2010.)

QS rankings take into consideration:

•    Research strength
•    Employer reputation
•    International commitment
•    Quality of teaching

For 2010 six of New Zealand’s eight universities were in the QS World Rankings top 400, with three in the top 200 (Auckland, Otago and Canterbury).

When comparing the number of universities per country to the number of top 500 rankings, New Zealand performance is excellent – at 75% placement, New Zealand is a clear winner.




Note:  figures for number of USA universities are only approximate.

For more information on THES ranks, see www.thes.co.uk/worldrankings

The Shanghai Jio Tong 2009 Academic Rankings puts 5 New Zealand universities in the top 500. Comparing number of universities to number of ‘top 500’ rankings, once again New Zealand has the highest percentage with 63%.