The University Entrance pass rate has bounced back to nearly 64 percent following appeals and remarking.
Preliminary results earlier this year had put the rate at just 61 percent, the same as in 2014 and down from a high of 71 percent in 2013.
The rate fell after the Qualifications Authority changed the UE standard and universities and schools had hoped it would recover.
The authority's final figures also show 88.6 percent of the Year 12 students who could have got NCEA level 2 last year were successful, up from 88.2 percent in 2014.
