Best primary schools in Canterbury 2026
204 primary schools ranked by the SchoolsNearMe composite — a 5-axis score (academic, outcomes, retention, wellbeing, trajectory) compared against EQI-band peers. Methodology.
Data refreshed from Education Counts 2026-07-12. Schools without enough data to score on the composite are omitted from this page but still appear in the directory.
- View profile →
94
/ 100 composite
Wellbeing100Trajectory100ERO review84 - View profile →
94
/ 100 composite
Wellbeing100Trajectory100ERO review84 - View profile →
93
/ 100 composite
Wellbeing100Trajectory100ERO review83 - 4Our Lady Star of the Sea School (Christchurch)
Sumner · Full Primary · 109 students · EQI <420 (most advantaged)
View profile →91
/ 100 composite
Wellbeing100Trajectory100ERO review78 - View profile →
90
/ 100 composite
Wellbeing92Trajectory99ERO review82 - 6Our Lady of the Snows School (Methven)
Methven · Full Primary · 42 students · EQI <420 (most advantaged)
View profile →90
/ 100 composite
Wellbeing100Trajectory100ERO review75 - 7Milns Road School (Proposed opening date: 2027-01-25)
Halswell · Full Primary · — students · EQI unknown
View profile →87
/ 100 composite
Wellbeing100Trajectory—ERO review75 - View profile →
87
/ 100 composite
Wellbeing100Trajectory—ERO review75 - View profile →
87
/ 100 composite
Wellbeing100Trajectory73ERO review85 - 10Prebbleton New School (Proposed opening date: 2027-01-25)
Canterbury · Full Primary · — students · EQI unknown
View profile →87
/ 100 composite
Wellbeing100Trajectory—ERO review75
View the remaining 194 ranked primary schools in Canterbury
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About this ranking
SchoolsNearMe's composite combines five axes — academic achievement, post-school destinations, Y9→Y13 retention, wellbeing (low stand-down rate), and roll trajectory — into a single 0–100 score. The math compares each school against its EQI-band peers (12 bands covering NZ's socio-economic spread), so a school serving more disadvantaged students isn't unfairly penalised against schools serving the most-advantaged.
Schools below 30 students aren't given a rollup score (per-axis data is still on each profile). Schools without composite-eligible data don't appear on this page.
Source data: Education Counts (NCEA, retention, destinations, discipline, funding) · Ministry of Education (roll, EQI, identity).