GuidesA closer look

What is the Equity Index (EQI)?

What a school's Equity Index number estimates, how the Ministry of Education works it out and uses it for funding, how to read the number, and what the Ministry says it is not.

Every statement on this page comes from an official source: Ministry of Education (Education Counts), Ministry of Education and New Zealand Government (Govt.nz).

What the Equity Index is

The Schooling Equity Index (EQI) is a statistical model that estimates how far students face socio-economic barriers to achievement at school.¹ The Ministry of Education describes it as estimating the extent to which young people face socio-economic barriers to achieving in education.²

The reason the Ministry gives for having it is about resourcing. The information the model provides lets the Ministry of Education better target resourcing to reduce the impact of socio-economic barriers.³ The Ministry says too many children and young people face barriers to educational achievement because of their socio-economic circumstances, and are not being adequately supported to reach their full potential.⁴

What the Equity Index is not

The Equity Index is easy to misread as a score for how good a school is. The official sources say plainly that it is not. The Schooling Equity Index is not a measure of school quality.⁵ Rather, it is a way to understand the relationship between socio-economic circumstances and student achievement.⁶

Govt.nz puts it the same way. Govt.nz says the EQI is not a measure of school quality, but a way to understand the relationship between social and economic factors and student achievement.⁷

The same warning applies to the broad groupings the Ministry builds from the index for its statistics. Educational statistics vary a lot between individual schools in the same Equity Index band or group, and the band or group a school is placed in is not an indicator of the school's quality.⁸

How to read a school's number

Schools are given an EQI number from 344 to 569. A higher EQI number indicates that a school's students face more socio-economic barriers on average; a lower number indicates that its students face fewer socio-economic barriers on average.⁹

The range of Equity Index numbers

344⁹

Students facing fewer socio-economic barriers, on average

569⁹

Students facing more socio-economic barriers, on average

Put another way: The Equity Index Number tells us the extent to which a school's students might face socio-economic barriers that could get in the way of them achieving at school.¹⁰

The Equity Index is updated every year, so the number, band and group given to a school can change from year to year.¹¹

Some schools are treated differently. Some schools are given a notional Equity Index number. These include Teen Parent Units, Activity Centres, Regional Health Schools, some specialist schools, and a small number of very small schools.¹² These schools are given the maximum Equity Index number, to reflect the particular challenges of those settings and/or limits on the data available.¹³

Private schools do not have an Equity Index number.¹⁴

How the number is worked out

The Schooling EQI uses de-identified data in the Statistics NZ Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI).¹⁵ It uses 37 variables associated with socio-economic barriers to achievement at school.¹⁶ The Equity Index is derived from a statistical model of educational attainment.¹⁷

The variables are grouped into broad categories: The variables fit under four general categories: parental socio-economic indicators, child socio-economic indicators, national background, and transience.¹⁸

Because ethnicity is part of the model, the Ministry cautions analysts about one kind of comparison. Care should be taken when analysing data broken down by both ethnicity and Equity Index band or group, because the importance of ethnicity could be underestimated when ethnicity is also a component of the Equity Index.¹⁹

The index is refreshed regularly. The Equity Index is recalculated every year based on the latest available information.²⁰ For schools, the following year's Equity Index is published every September in Pourato, in the indicative funding section of the provisional roll screen.²¹

How the Equity Index is used

The index is used to decide equity funding. The Ministry gives schools and kura equity funding, on top of their core funding, so they can work in different ways to reduce the impact socio-economic factors have on student achievement.²² The Ministry has used the Schooling EQI to calculate this funding since 1 January 2023.²³

All state and state-integrated schools and kura with an Equity Index number at or above the threshold calculation point are eligible for EQI funding.²⁴
The Ministry calculates a school's equity funding as its Year 1 to Year 15 roll multiplied by the equity funding rate for the school's Equity Index.²⁵
The EQI determines how much equity funding a school receives on top of its regular funding: the higher the EQI, the more funding the school receives per student.²⁶

Through Budget 2022, the Government provided a 50% ($75 million) increase in equity funding.²⁷

The index is also used to decide which schools can join the school donations scheme. State and state-integrated schools and kura with an EQI of 432 or higher can choose to join the school donations scheme.²⁸ To join, schools and kura must agree not to ask parents and caregivers for donations, except for overnight camps.²⁹

Equity Index bands and groups

For its statistics, the Ministry sorts schools into broad bands and groups built from the index. School Equity Index Bands and Groups are two ways the Ministry groups schools into broad socio-economic categories for its socio-economic reporting.³⁰ These categories estimate how far, on average, students at a school face socio-economic barriers that could get in the way of their achievement.³¹

There are seven School Equity Index Bands, each containing about the same number of schools, and schools are placed into a band based on their Equity Index number.³²
There are three School Equity Index Groups, formed by combining the seven bands.³³

These groupings are meant for looking at the whole system, not at one school. School Equity Index Bands and Groups are only useful for aggregate reporting, meaning reporting that summarises data on many schools.³⁴

The Equity Index and deciles

The Equity Index took over from the old decile system. Since January 2023, the Ministry has stopped using the school decile system to distribute funding.³⁵ Equity funding is instead based on the Equity Index.³⁶

A decile and an Equity Index number cannot simply be swapped for each other. The Equity Index and school decile are different socio-economic measures and are not directly comparable.³⁷

Early learning has a different index

Early childhood services also have an index called the Equity Index, but it is described differently from the schooling one. For early childhood services, eligibility for parts of equity funding is based on the early childhood Equity Index, which measures how far an ECE service draws its children from low socio-economic communities.³⁸ The early childhood EQI is worked out from enrolled children's addresses and information from the 2006 New Zealand Census.³⁹

Where to find a school's number

You can find the EQI for a school or kura on Education Counts.⁴⁰ Education Counts publishes the school EQI numbers for 2023 to 2026 as an Excel file, updated in January 2026.⁴¹

Sources

Every statement on this page comes from an official page, quoted in full here.

Each numbered statement above is followed here by the words of the official page it comes from. Every quote was checked against its page on 5 October 2026.

“The Schooling Equity Index (EQI) is a statistical model that estimates the extent to which students face socio-economic barriers to achievement at school.”
Ministry of Education (Education Counts) · educationcounts.govt.nz/data-services/code-sets-and-classifications/t… ↑
“The Equity Index estimates the extent to which young people face socio-economic barriers to achieving in education.”
Ministry of Education · education.govt.nz/our-work/information-releases/issue-specific-… ↑
“The information that this model provides allows the Ministry of Education to better target resourcing to mitigate the impact of socio-economic barriers.”
Ministry of Education (Education Counts) · educationcounts.govt.nz/data-services/code-sets-and-classifications/t… ↑
“Too many children and young people face barriers to educational achievement because of their socio-economic circumstances and are not being adequately supported to reach their full potential.”
Ministry of Education (Education Counts) · educationcounts.govt.nz/data-services/code-sets-and-classifications/t… ↑
“The Schooling EQI is not a measure of school quality.”
Ministry of Education (Education Counts) · educationcounts.govt.nz/data-services/code-sets-and-classifications/t… ↑
“Rather, it is a way to understand the relationship between socio-economic circumstances and student achievement.”
Ministry of Education (Education Counts) · educationcounts.govt.nz/data-services/code-sets-and-classifications/t… ↑
“The EQI is not a measure of school quality — it’s a way to understand the relationship between social and economic factors and student achievement.”
New Zealand Government (Govt.nz) · govt.nz/browse/education/school-and-college/school-zo… ↑
“Educational statistics vary significantly for individual schools within these categories and the Band or Group that a school is placed in is not an indicator of the school’s quality.”
Ministry of Education (Education Counts) · educationcounts.govt.nz/data-services/guidelines/school-equity-index-… ↑
“Schools are assigned an EQI number from 344 to 569. A higher EQI number indicates that a school has students facing more socioeconomic barriers on average, and a lower EQI number indicates that a school has students facing fewer socioeconomic barriers on average.”
Ministry of Education (Education Counts) · educationcounts.govt.nz/data-services/guidelines/school-equity-index-… ↑
“The Equity Index Number tells us the extent to which a school’s students might face socio-economic barriers that could get in the way of them achieving at school.”
Ministry of Education (Education Counts) · educationcounts.govt.nz/data-services/glossary-filter ↑
“The Equity Index is updated annually. This means that the Equity Index Number, Band and Group assigned to a school can change from year to year.”
Ministry of Education (Education Counts) · educationcounts.govt.nz/data-services/guidelines/school-equity-index-… ↑
“Schools which are assigned a notional Equity Index number. These include Teen Parent Units, Activity Centres, Regional Health Schools, some specialist schools, and a small number of very small schools.”
Ministry of Education (Education Counts) · educationcounts.govt.nz/data-services/guidelines/school-equity-index-… ↑
“These schools are assigned the maximum Equity Index number to reflect either the particular challenges unique to those settings, and/or limitations on data availability.”
Ministry of Education (Education Counts) · educationcounts.govt.nz/data-services/guidelines/school-equity-index-… ↑
“All private schools (these schools do not have an Equity Index number).”
Ministry of Education (Education Counts) · educationcounts.govt.nz/data-services/guidelines/school-equity-index-… ↑
“The Schooling EQI uses de-identified data in the Statistics NZ Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI).”
Ministry of Education (Education Counts) · educationcounts.govt.nz/data-services/code-sets-and-classifications/t… ↑
“It uses 37 variables associated with socio-economic barriers to achievement at school.”
Ministry of Education (Education Counts) · educationcounts.govt.nz/data-services/code-sets-and-classifications/t… ↑
“The Equity Index is derived from a statistical model of educational attainment.”
Ministry of Education (Education Counts) · educationcounts.govt.nz/data-services/guidelines/school-equity-index-… ↑
“These variables fit under four general categories: Parental socio-economic indicators Child socio-economic indicators National background Transience”
Ministry of Education (Education Counts) · educationcounts.govt.nz/data-services/code-sets-and-classifications/t… ↑
“Care should be taken when analysing data disaggregated by both ethnicity and School Equity Index Band or Group. In this situation, the importance of ethnicity could be underestimated because ethnicity is also a component of the Equity Index.”
Ministry of Education (Education Counts) · educationcounts.govt.nz/data-services/guidelines/school-equity-index-… ↑
“The Equity Index is recalculated annually based on the latest available information.”
Ministry of Education · education.govt.nz/education-professionals/schools-year-0-13/fun… ↑
“The following year's Equity Index is published every September in Pourato in the indicative funding section of the provisional roll screen.”
Ministry of Education · education.govt.nz/education-professionals/schools-year-0-13/fun… ↑
“The Ministry provides schools and kura with equity funding, in addition to their core funding, so they can work in different ways to reduce the impact socio-economic factors have on student achievement.”
Ministry of Education (Education Counts) · educationcounts.govt.nz/data-services/code-sets-and-classifications/t… ↑
“The Ministry has used the Schooling EQI to calculate this funding since 1 January 2023.”
Ministry of Education (Education Counts) · educationcounts.govt.nz/data-services/code-sets-and-classifications/t… ↑
“All state and state-integrated schools and kura with an Equity Index number at or above the threshold calculation point are eligible to receive EQI funding.”
Ministry of Education · education.govt.nz/education-professionals/schools-year-0-13/fun… ↑
“How we calculate equity funding # (Year 1 to Year 15 roll) x Equity Funding rate (for the school's Equity Index)”
Ministry of Education · education.govt.nz/education-professionals/schools-year-0-13/fun… ↑
“The EQI determines how much equity funding the school receives in addition to their regular funding — the higher the EQI , the more funding the school receives per student.”
New Zealand Government (Govt.nz) · govt.nz/browse/education/school-and-college/school-zo… ↑
“Through Budget 2022, the Government has provided a 50% ($75 million) increase in equity funding.”
Ministry of Education (Education Counts) · educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/schooling/assessing-how-schools-… ↑
“State and state-integrated schools and kura with an equity index (EQI) of 432 or higher can choose to join the scheme.”
Ministry of Education · education.govt.nz/education-professionals/schools-year-0-13/fun… ↑
“To join, schools and kura must agree not to ask parents and caregivers for donations (except for overnight camps).”
Ministry of Education · education.govt.nz/education-professionals/schools-year-0-13/fun… ↑
“Our socioeconomic reporting uses School Equity Index Bands and Groups. These are two ways of grouping schools into broad socioeconomic categories.”
Ministry of Education (Education Counts) · educationcounts.govt.nz/data-services/guidelines/school-equity-index-… ↑
“These categories estimate the extent to which, on average, students at a school face socioeconomic barriers that could get in the way of their school achievement.”
Ministry of Education (Education Counts) · educationcounts.govt.nz/data-services/guidelines/school-equity-index-… ↑
“There are seven School Equity Index Bands, each containing approximately the same number of schools. Schools are placed into a band based on their Equity Index number.”
Ministry of Education (Education Counts) · educationcounts.govt.nz/data-services/guidelines/school-equity-index-… ↑
“There are three School Equity Index Groups formed by collapsing the seven School Equity Index Bands”
Ministry of Education (Education Counts) · educationcounts.govt.nz/data-services/guidelines/school-equity-index-… ↑
“School Equity Index Bands and Groups are only useful for aggregate reporting (i.e., reporting that summarises data on many schools).”
Ministry of Education (Education Counts) · educationcounts.govt.nz/data-services/guidelines/school-equity-index-… ↑
“Since January 2023, we have removed the school decile system as a means of distributing funding.”
Ministry of Education · education.govt.nz/our-work/information-releases/issue-specific-… ↑
“Equity funding is instead based on the Equity Index.”
Ministry of Education · education.govt.nz/our-work/information-releases/issue-specific-… ↑
“The Equity Index and School Decile are different socioeconomic measures and are not directly comparable.”
Ministry of Education (Education Counts) · educationcounts.govt.nz/data-services/guidelines/school-equity-index-… ↑
“Eligibility for components A and B of Equity Funding is based on the early childhood Equity Index (EQI). The EQI measures the extent to which an ECE service draws its children from low socio-economic communities.”
Ministry of Education (Education Counts) · educationcounts.govt.nz/data-services/collection-forms/equity-index-a… ↑
“The EQI is worked out based on enrolled children’s addresses and information taken from the New Zealand Census 2006.”
Ministry of Education (Education Counts) · educationcounts.govt.nz/data-services/collection-forms/equity-index-a… ↑
“You can find the EQI for a school or kura on Education Counts.”
Ministry of Education · education.govt.nz/education-professionals/schools-year-0-13/fun… ↑
“School EQI numbers Updated: January 2026 School EQI numbers 2023-2026 [MS Excel 134kB]”
Ministry of Education (Education Counts) · educationcounts.govt.nz/data-services/code-sets-and-classifications/t… ↑