Photo: 123rf

For some school leavers the transition from school to university can be too much, with about 10 percent dropping out in the first year.

Overall only 66 percent of students actually graduate, and New Zealand has the one of the lowest tertiary completion rates in the OECD.

Liz Morris is the Career development Services Director for Diocesan, and has spent more than a year looking at why so many first-year students drop out of tertiary study, and how best to help them make the transition from school to university.

She tells Kathryn Ryan why the first six weeks are crucial.