What questions are being asked in the 2023 survey?
What is Census at School?
CensusAtSchool/TataurangaKiTeKura is a long-running, online educational project that takes place every two years with the aim of bringing statistics to life in the classroom.
Schools take part voluntarily. Supervised by teachers, students use a variety of digital devices that are connected to the Internet to answer 30 questions in English or te reo Māori about their lives and opinions.
The data is then collated and made available for class exercises so that students can see the real-life relevance of statistics.
Which schools are taking part?
Participating schools are published here.
When do schools take part?
Any time from February 13, 2023 until the end of 2024 during school hours.
What age groups are involved?
Students aged between 7 and 18 (Year 3 to Year 13).
What are the benefits of the project?
Census at School aims to:
- foster a positive attitude to statistics by using data that is both relevant and real
- improve understanding of a data-gathering process, its purposes, and benefits to society
- provide classes with access to large and meaningful multivariate data sets
- encourage effective IT teaching and learning
- enhance the process of statistical enquiry across the curriculum
How do I get to visit a school to take a photo, interview students, etc?
Visit here to see which schools are participating, and either contact the school or Rachel Cunliffe (hello@censusatschool.org.nz) to arrange with the specific teachers who have registered from those schools.
How will the data be used? For what purposes? Can it be used for more than school-based activities/exercises?
Class data is returned to the teachers to use for class activities. The nationwide database will be available for sampling from, and for viewing summary statistics on the CensusAtSchool NZ and CensusAtSchool international websites. Everyone who uses the data tools agrees to the following terms and conditions:
“The data is the property of CensusAtSchool NZ and is protected by copyright laws. The sample data is provided solely for the purposes of teaching and learning. This data can not be reproduced in any way, other than by teachers or students for school curriculum and assessment activities, without the express permission of CensusAtSchool NZ. No reference to the URL for our sampler is to be made in any publication without the permission of CensusAtSchool NZ. Persons doing so will be prosecuted.”
All data received is anonymous, confidential, and securely stored by CensusAtSchool. The Ministry of Education, Stats NZ, and other third parties do not have access to the full database.
How will the identity of the students be protected?
All data received is anonymous, confidential, and securely stored. You can explore data collated from past years here.
Is it part of an international event?
Yes – The Royal Statistical Society Centre for Statistical Education started the CensusAtSchool project in the UK in 2000, based on a trial project by Prof. Sharleen Forbes of Stats NZ, which took place in 1990. Since 2000, the UK has been joined by New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Ireland, Japan, South Africa, USA, and Korea.
Where do I go for more information?
View our live dashboard.
For all media inquiries, please contact:
Rachel Cunliffe, CensusAtSchool Co-Director
Email: hello@censusatschool.org.nz
Phone: 027 3833 746
Rachel Cunliffe. Click for hi-res suitable for media use.
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