Uiuinga Aka Kōrero / Touchpoint survey
Touchpoint is N4L’s yearly survey, sent to nearly 3,500 principals and IT leads at schools connected to the N4L Managed Network. The survey helps N4L understand what schools think about us and our products and services. It enables us to listen to our customers and drive constant improvement within our organisation, resulting in better customer service and support for schools and kura.
We’re proud that, in 2024, 92% of principals said they were satisfied with us, 92% also said they trust us, and 91% would recommend us.
As part of the survey, Touchpoint also asks additional research questions to understand the wider context and provide unique insights into the thoughts and concerns of leaders at schools and kura across Aotearoa.
Insights from the survey are shared in our annual Aka Kōrero – Hopuāhua | Touchpoint Snapshot.
Please note: numbers referenced from previous years may vary slightly from those reported in previous years. Questions with open text responses can be open to interpretation and may change if we update our system or method of processing these responses.
Our latest survey looked at the thoughts and concerns of schools and kura across Aotearoa around three key themes, and below are the key findings:
Whakamaru ā-ipurangi ki ngā kura
Cybersecurity in schools
With today’s increasingly challenging cybersecurity threat landscape, we want to understand how much knowledge and confidence schools have about cybersecurity, what gaps in knowledge there might be, and what future initiatives or developments would be of value to them. This supports our efforts in helping keep schools safer and more secure online.
In the event of a cybersecurity incident, nearly three-quarters (74%) say they would go to N4L; 58% to their internal IT lead or provider; and 47% to Netsafe.
To feel more confident about managing cybersecurity, schools would seek improvement or support with training and best practice guidance; monitoring, reporting and advisories; checklists and incident response plans; and self-service tools.
92%
of schools indicate they are confident
or very confident they have sufficient
cybersecurity protection.
Hangarau ki ngā kura
Technology in schools
Schools currently spend most of their
technology budget on devices and
device programmes, IT providers and
educational software.
At times, schools may face challenges around having access to the right technology for their school and the right level of spend for their circumstances. This research helps N4L understand where schools are currently spending their technology budget and what their future technology needs might be, so that we can plan future initiatives and support.
With extra tech funding, schools say they would prioritise their spend on devices (38%), innovation (15%), training (12%) and infrastructure (11%).
Tautoko mō te pūnaha rorohiko, te oranga ākonga me te whakangungu i ngā kura
Support for IT, student wellbeing and training in schools
This section helps N4L understand how schools are accessing support for IT, pastoral care and PLD / training, and how much support they might require from us. This informs how we engage with schools, as well as enabling us to tailor resources.
Schools primarily turn to internal resources (45%) for pastoral care and wellbeing, followed by non-governmental organisations / non-profit organisations (11%) and the Ministry of Education (11%).
Schools mainly turn to internal resources (34%) for PLD and staff training, followed by the Ministry (16%) and private businesses (10%).
47%
of schools said they turn to IT providers
for wider tech support, followed by internal
resources (23%) and N4L (9%).