Lower suspensions, but no clear system for discipline in private schools

Author: Jaime Cunningham,
Publish Date: Mon, 22 Jun 2026, 5:02am

Private schools suspend students at lower rates than the state sector, but say behaviour decisions vary between schools because there is no single national standard for discipline.

Ministry of Education figures show 110 private school students were suspended and four expelled in 2024. That equates to about 32 suspensions per 10,000 students, compared with about 40 per 10,000 (3,278 suspensions) in the state sector the same year.

The private school rate almost halved last year, dropping to 17 per 10,000 (58).

It comes as private school enrolments have grown 11.7% between 2019 and 2024, compared with less than 4% growth in the state sector in the same period.

However, direct comparisons are complicated by differences in how the two systems operate.

Private schools set their own disciplinary processes under enrolment agreements and are not required to follow the framework set out in legislation covering state and state-integrated schools.

Many have also gone further on issues such as cell phone use and vaping, despite not being bound by Government rules and policy changes.

Independent Schools of New Zealand chief executive Guy Pascoe said that leads to variation across private schools.

“But I would say the reality is that there’s strong consistency around the levels of principles including fairness and natural justice and student well-being,” he said.

Christchurch’s St Andrew’s College rector Mark Wilson said there is no single threshold for what behaviour leads to suspension or expulsion.

He said the same behaviour can be treated differently depending on the school, including on issues such as drugs, bullying and fighting.

“There are particular schools who will be quite strict on drugs, and other schools, take a far more lenient, health approach.”

“So if you get caught with drugs, marijuana, let’s say, in one school, you could be stood down or suspended. In another school, you could be sent to the to the dean or for counselling.”

He said responses reflect school values and expectations.

“For some schools, if they were standing down students for the sort of things that we were doing, they would be standing down hundreds of kids.”

Wilson says most independent schools broadly follow state-sector processes, but high expectations in the fee-paying schools also shape behaviour management.

“That is expected to be replicated in terms of a much tougher expectation around standards and behaviours, and therefore our responses would typically be much stronger, if it’s the right language, than what most state schools would be doing.”

Pascoe added independent schools often take a proactive approach.

“There’s a really strong focus on pastoral care, early intervention, relationship-based discipline.”

“So, it’s really less about being stricter and more about being clear and consistent.”

The Ministry does not collect information on the reasons behind suspensions or expulsions in private schools, meaning it cannot identify what types of behaviour are driving disciplinary action.

In state schools, the most common reason for action was physical assault on students and staff in 2024- while thousands of students were also disciplined for smoking, vaping or alcohol.

Pascoe said differences in structure, resources and decision-making make direct comparisons with the state system difficult.

“It’s not really about better or worse, but it’s really just kind of different approaches that are kind of shaped by the different structures and operating environments.”

Jaime Cunningham is a Christchurch-based reporter with a focus on education and general news. She joined Newstalk ZB in 2023 after working as a sports reporter at the Christchurch Star.