All students have their own story and experiences in life and education. Knowing these stories helps us to understand their learning and achievement and how we can help students improve. The contextual questionnaire given to students (student contextual questionnaire) allowed an exploration of their educational experience and other factors outside school that may affect it.

Broadly, students from Cook Islands were asked about environmental factors, such as whether they attended early childhood education and what language they commonly used, as well as information about their parents and caregivers, including their qualifications, household wealth, and the support they gave to their children’s education. They were also asked about what problems affected their well-being at school and what difficulties and issues they commonly faced. Finally, students were asked about their views on literacy, numeracy and school in general.