The adult Cook Island Maori population includes all those aged 15 years and over.
- In 2001, 54 percent of Cook Island Maori adults held a formal educational qualification – 10 percentage points below the equivalent figure of 64 percent for the Pacific population.
- Thirty-eight percent of the adult Cook Island Maori population listed a school qualification as their highest qualification in 2001, while a further 16 percent held a post-school qualification. Thirty-two percent of the New Zealand adult population also held a post-school qualification in 2001.
- Young Cook Island Maori adults are more likely to hold a post-school qualification than their older counterparts, as figure 5.1 illustrates. In 2001, 21 percent of Cook Island Maori people aged 20–24 years held a post-school qualification, declining at each successive age group to 9 percent of those aged 65 years and over.
- Cook Island Maori females were more likely than Cook Island Maori males to have a school qualification as their highest qualification (39 percent and 36 percent respectively). A higher proportion of Cook Island Maori females also held a post-school qualification (18 percent compared with 14 percent).
- New Zealand-born Cook Island Maori were more likely than those born overseas to hold a school qualification as their highest qualification (42 percent compared with 32 percent). A higher proportion of those born in New Zealand also held a post-school qualification (19 percent and 12 percent, respectively).
- Of the overseas-born Cook Island Maori population, 56 percent had no formal qualifications, compared with 39 percent of New Zealand-born Cook Island Maori. The older age structure of the overseas-born Cook Island Maori population may be a contributing factor.
- Young Cook Island Maori adults are less likely to be without a formal qualification than their older counterparts. In 2001, 34 percent of Cook Island Maori aged 20–24 years and 37 percent of those aged 25–34 years were without any formal qualifications, compared with 49 percent of those aged 35–44 years and 60 percent of those aged 45–64 years.