NZ Students Reveal Favourite Foods, Apps, and Slang in New National Survey
18 August 2025 | Press Release
Early insights from CensusAtSchool 2025 show what students across Aotearoa are eating, watching, saying, and dreaming of, and how these habits change as they grow.
Almost 16,000 students from 310 schools have already taken part in this year’s CensusAtSchool – TataurangaKiTeKura Aotearoa, an educational project that gives students the opportunity to be both participants and data explorers. The results so far reveal fascinating patterns in everything from musical ability and device use to trending internet words and dream holiday destinations.
Half of Students Play an Instrument. Piano and Guitar Lead the Way
Fifty percent of students said they could play at least one musical instrument, and many play more than one. Seventeen and a half percent said they could play at least two, and 7.3 percent said they could play three or more.
The most commonly played instruments were piano or keyboard and guitar, followed by drums and ukulele. The top 10 also included recorder, violin, flute, trumpet, saxophone, and clarinet.
Pets Are the Norm – Dogs Just Ahead of Cats
Seventy-two percent of students reported having at least one pet in their household. Sixty-six percent had at least one dog, while sixty-two percent had at least one cat. Multiple pets were common. 23.9% of students said they had two or more dogs, and 8.4% had three or more. For cats, 28.6% had at least two, and 10.5% had three or more. The five most common pets were dogs, cats, fish, birds, and rabbits.
Screen Time Builds Across School Years
Screen time after school increases steadily as students progress through school. Year 3 students reported an average of around 1 hour and 25 minutes. By Year 7, that had roughly doubled. Girls averaged 2 hours and 35 minutes, and boys 2 hours and 50 minutes.
The trend continues through the secondary years. By Year 13, girls reported an average of 4 hours and 6 minutes of screen time after school, while boys averaged 3 hours and 36 minutes.
Devices in Bed. Common and Climbing
Overall, 61.5 percent of students said they used a device in bed the night before. Usage rises with age. Among Year 13 girls, 89.5 percent said they used a device in bed, as did 81.3 percent of Year 12 boys. From Year 7 onward, girls consistently reported higher usage than boys.
Fewer Students Feel Well-Rested by Year 13
Students in Years 3 to 8 were more likely to feel they got enough sleep, with 65.1 percent of girls and 71.7 percent of boys saying they felt rested. In contrast, this dropped to 54.0 percent for girls and 65.8 percent for boys in Years 9 to 13.
Sleep satisfaction generally declines with each school year. By Year 13, only 42 percent of students said they felt they got enough sleep the night before.
Favourite Foods. Sushi, Pizza, and Chicken Top the List
When asked “What is your favourite food?”, sushi came out on top, chosen by 15.2 percent of students. Pizza (9.7 percent) and chicken (8.6 percent) followed.
Top 10 favourite foods:
- Sushi
- Pizza
- Chicken
- Pasta
- Burger
- Noodles
- McDonald’s
- Steak
- Hot chips
- KFC
Most Popular Future Jobs. Lawyer, Doctor, and Vet
Students were asked what job they want after finishing their studies. The most popular choices were lawyer (3.8 percent), doctor (3.0 percent), vet (2.1 percent), and teacher (2.1 percent).
Top 10 jobs students want:
- Lawyer
- Doctor
- Vet
- Teacher
- Engineer
- Police officer
- Mechanic
- Nurse
- Builder
- Pilot
Tech Use. TikTok Tops Daily Use, YouTube Leads the Week
Students in Years 9 to 13 were asked which platforms they had used four or more times the previous day. TikTok (60.5 percent) narrowly beat out Snapchat (59.8 percent) and Instagram (55.9 percent). YouTube was used by 46.9 percent of students.
When asked which platforms they had used in the past week, YouTube led with 79.5 percent, followed by Snapchat (70.5 percent), Instagram (68.6 percent), and TikTok (68.5 percent). ChatGPT was used by 38.5% of high school students taking part. This is the first year CensusAtSchool has included questions about large language models and AI platforms like ChatGPT.
What’s Trending? “Sigma” Leads the Pack
Students were asked which word they thought was currently trending. The top response was “Sigma,” chosen by 14.4 percent of students. It was followed by Skibidi, Slay, and Huzz. Rizz peaked in February and March. In April and May, Skibidi took over, and by July, newer words like NPC, Jit, and Corecore were beginning to trend.
Top 10 trending words:
- Sigma
- Skibidi
- Slay
- Huzz
- Rizz
- Sybau
- Dry
- Bro
- Gyatt
- Aura
Dream Holidays. Japan Tops the List
Japan was the most popular destination students said they’d like to visit, chosen by 12.7 percent of students. Greece, Hawaii, and Fiji followed closely behind, with Australia, Italy, America, Paris, Europe, and Rarotonga also in the top 10.
Top 10 dream holiday destinations:
- Japan
- Greece
- Hawaii
- Fiji
- Australia
- Italy
- America
- Paris
- Europe
- Rarotonga
Rachel Cunliffe, co-director of CensusAtSchool, says the most powerful learning happens when students see themselves in the data – what’s popular, what’s different, and what’s changing. “It’s a snapshot of Kiwi life, straight from the source,” she says.
Anne Patel, co-director and professional teaching fellow at the University of Auckland, adds that students are discovering how data can be collected, analysed, and used to explore the world around them. “These are real skills with real impact,” she says.
About CensusAtSchool
CensusAtSchool TataurangaKiTeKura Aotearoa is a free, non-profit educational project that brings statistics to life in English and Māori-medium classrooms. Supervised by teachers, students from Years 3 to 13 take part anonymously online, answering a mix of fun and thought-provoking questions in English or te reo Māori.
The survey is developed and run by the Department of Statistics at the University of Auckland in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Stats NZ.
Explore the live dashboard, view the full questionnaire, or take part today:
www.censusatschool.org.nz
