Results of the 2023 school audits
14 February 2025: This detailed information sets out the results of the school audits for 2023. We have provided this information, and a list of recommendations, to the Secretary for Education.
Ministry of Education: Promoting equitable educational outcomes
23 October 2024: We looked at whether the Ministry of Education's approach to promoting equitable educational outcomes in Years 1-13 is informed by comprehensive, current, reliable, and relevant information.
Tertiary education institutions: 2022 audit results and what we saw in 2023
27 June 2024: This letter summarises the main findings from our 2022 audits of tertiary education institutions. It also provides information about the work being done to improve student success and about the financial sustainability challenges in the TEI sector.
Procurement of services by the University of Waikato
3 May 2024: We wrote to the University of Waikato about the procurement of services from Joyce Advisory Services in 2019.
Results of the 2022 school audits
12 December 2023: This detailed information sets out the results of the school audits for 2022. We have provided this information, and a list of recommendations, to the Secretary for Education.
Tertiary education institutions: 2021 audit results and what we saw in 2022
28 March 2023: This report summarises the main findings from our 2021 audits of tertiary education institutions and the progress of the vocational education and training reforms, including what they are designed to achieve, and the leadership and governance of the reform process.
Results of the 2021 school audits
27 March 2023: This detailed information sets out the results of the school audits for 2021. We have provided this information, and a list of recommendations, to the Secretary for Education.
Our intentions: Looking at how the Ministry of Education uses information to address inequities in education
9 February 2023: We’re carrying out a performance audit that will look at how the Ministry of Education uses information to understand and address inequities in education.
Update on 2021 school audits
22 November 2022: A high-level overview of the 2021 school audits. We have provided this information, and a list of recommendations, to the Secretary for Education.
Tertiary education institutions: What we saw in 2021
14 April 2022: This report expands on the main findings from our 2020 audits of tertiary education institutions and provides our observations on the tertiary education sector in 2021. It focuses on two key areas – the ongoing vocational education reform programme and the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on the tertiary education sector.
Tertiary education institutions: Main findings from our 2020 audits
December 2021: We wrote to chairpersons and chief executives of Te Pūkenga and wānanga, and chancellors and vice-chancellors of universities, about the main findings of our 2020 audits of tertiary education institutions. We also set out our general observations of the impact of Covid-19 on the tertiary education sector and provide specific commentary about Te Pūkenga and its Crown entity subsidiaries.
Results of the 2020 school audits
December 2021: This detailed information sets out the results of the school audits for 2020. We have provided this information, and a list of recommendations, to the Secretary for Education.
Inquiry into management fees paid by South Auckland Middle School and Middle School West Auckland in 2018
November 2021: This report outlines our views about $450,000 in management fees the Combined Establishment Board of South Auckland Middle School and Middle School West Auckland paid to Villa Education Trust in 2018.
Tertiary education institutions: 2019 audit results and what we saw in 2020
November 2020: This report summarises the main findings of our 2019 audits of the 27 public tertiary education institutions. We also comment on the tertiary education sector’s operating environment in 2020, including the effects of the reforms of vocational education and Covid-19, and what this might mean for the sector in 2021.
Inquiry into the University of Auckland’s decision to purchase a house in Parnell
November 2020: In November 2019, the University of Auckland purchased a house in Parnell for about $5 million. The University said the house would be used for accommodation, business-related operations, and functions. We have looked at how the University managed the purchase of the Parnell house from a sensitive expenditure perspective.
Results of the 2019 school audits
November 2020: This detailed information sets out the results of the school audits for 2019. We have provided this information, and a list of recommendations, to the Secretary for Education.
Inquiry into state schools requesting payments in connection with out-of-zone places – follow-up work
September 2020: In 2017, we published a report that looked at payments some state schools were requesting in connection with applications for out-of-zone places. We have carried out follow-up work to assess whether the schools had acted on our recommendations and whether the Ministry had taken action to provide clear and consistent advice to schools and families.
Tertiary education institutions: Results of the 2018 audits
November 2019: This report sets out our observations from our audits of the 27 public tertiary education institutions, made up of eight universities, 16 institutes of technology and polytechnics, and three wānanga.
Results of the 2018 school audits
November 2019: This detailed information sets out the results of the school audits for 2018. We have provided this information, and a list of recommendations, to the Secretary for Education.
Letter to the Tomorrow’s Schools Independent Taskforce
9 April 2019: The Independent Taskforce on the Review of Tomorrow’s Schools has recommended changes to the education system. Although we do not have a view on the proposed structural changes to the education system, we have written to the Taskforce setting out some matters for it to consider as it develops its proposals further.
Tertiary Education Institutions: Changes to the requirements for performance reporting in annual reports
February 2019: Recent changes to the Education Act 1989 require tertiary education institutes' statement of service performance (SSP) for 2019 to comply with generally accepted accounting practice. In this letter we discuss the upcoming changes to SSP requirements for tertiary education institutes' annual reports, provide some guidance on performance reporting, and recommend next steps for further information and support.
Report to the Council: Additional assurance work on travel expenses, redundancy and severance payments
January 2019: Audit New Zealand (a business unit of the Controller and Auditor-General) was asked by the chairman of Waikato Institute of Technology to carry out additional assurance work in conjunction with the 2017 annual audit. This report sets out Audit New Zealand's findings about certain travel expenses and redundancy and severance payments.
Results of the 2017 school audits
December 2018: This detailed information sets out the results of the school audits for 2017. We have provided this information, and a list of recommendations, to the Secretary for Education.
Tertiary education institutions: Results of the 2017 audits
November 2018: This report sets out our observations from our audits of the 27 public tertiary education institutions. They consist of eight universities, 16 institutes of technology and polytechnics, and three wānanga.
It’s not just school reports on student achievement that schools have to complete each year.
Results of the 2016 school audits
December 2017: This detailed information sets out the results of the school audits for 2016. We have provided this information to the Secretary for Education.
Results of the 2016 audits of tertiary education institutions
November 2017: We summarise the results of the tertiary education institution audits for the year ended 31 December 2016. We provide a brief introduction to our audit work and an update on timeliness and completion of the 2016 audits. We also report on the types of audit opinions we issued, and note the main matters we identified from our audits.
Managing the school property portfolio
July 2017: The school property portfolio, valued at about $14 billion at 30 June 2016, is one of the largest publicly owned portfolios of property assets. For this report, we looked at the effectiveness of the Ministry of Education’s property strategy and its role as an asset manager, including how well it plans, monitors, and reports on its performance against the strategy.
Inquiry into state schools requesting payments in connection with out-of-zone places
May 2017: Our inquiry looked into the practice of five Auckland state schools that asked for payments in connection with out-of-zone enrolment applications for the 2016 and 2017 school years. We found one school asking for this kind of fee and have recommended that it cease doing so. In the schools we visited that asked for donations, we found that the donations were voluntary and that a child’s chance of gaining an out-of-zone place was not affected by their family’s decision about whether to pay the donation. However, we also found that some of the schools’ enrolment material should have been clearer that the donations were voluntary and not required for applications to be processed. We also found that the Ministry needs to improve its guidance to schools and ensure that schools are given coherent and consistent advice on payments in connection with out-of-zone places.
Investing in tertiary education assets
February 2017: This report considers the effectiveness of investment in tertiary education sector assets to support educational success. There is an opportunity for education agencies, tertiary education institutions, and other stakeholders to explore the measurement of the effectiveness of investments in assets, and the potential opportunities for more sector-based investment decisions. We hope that this report will start conversations in the tertiary sector about the further development and reporting of a range of cost-effectiveness measures and tools, for the sector and for individual institutions.
