Study in New Zealand

New Zealand and Germany, two as far away from each other as possible; two different kind of cultures, that it is a real challenge for all exchange students to concentrate more on school than on the rest of the country.

I was an exchange student for 8 months myself and my experiences “on the other side of the world” were quite positive. I attended classes of year 12 and year 13 at Linwood College in Christchurch, although I was just in year 11 back in Germany.

But because New Zealand pupils start primary school 2 years earlier (with 5 years) than the Germans (with 7 years) I was the same age as my class mates. In Germany, you have compulsory subjects which you attend from 8am to 1pm. Even though school days are longer in New Zealand, I enjoyed the variety of courses I could choose from.

Subjects like Drama, Tourism or Media are not found in Germany although they would be helpful for someone’s future working life. Collecting credits between NCEA level 1 to 3 (year 11 to 13) is the most important task for pupils, especially when they want to go to University.

To be able to study at Uni, New Zealanders need 80 credits after they finished school with their final exams. The difference with Germany is that New Zealanders can go to University even when they did not achieve enough credits by the time they turn 20 years old.

This obviously differs a lot from the system in Germany, where the final exams in the “Abitur” are basically what your certificate of graduation and your university entrance depends on.

In my opinion, the New Zealand school system is more easy-going, but it is not as esteemed as the German one worldwide.

Julia S.