Best secondary schools in Palmerston North 2026
10 secondary 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.
- 1Mana Tamariki
Palmerston North CBD · Composite · 74 students · EQI 420–449
View profile →90
/ 100 composite
Academic—Outcomes—Retention100Wellbeing100Trajectory61ERO review85 - 2Palmerston North Girls' High School
Palmerston North · Secondary (Year 9-15) · 1,312 students · EQI 420–449
View profile →77
/ 100 composite
Academic85Outcomes59Retention89Wellbeing88Trajectory58ERO review85 - View profile →
75
/ 100 composite
Academic87Outcomes57Retention91Wellbeing61Trajectory69ERO review80 - 4Palmerston North Boys' High School
Palmerston North · Secondary (Year 9-15) · 1,720 students · EQI 420–449
View profile →71
/ 100 composite
Academic76Outcomes57Retention85Wellbeing72Trajectory59ERO review85 - View profile →
66
/ 100 composite
Academic94Outcomes12Retention91Wellbeing68Trajectory48ERO review91 - View profile →
63
/ 100 composite
Academic82Outcomes13Retention89Wellbeing80Trajectory58ERO review76 - View profile →
52
/ 100 composite
Academic67Outcomes38Retention77Wellbeing0Trajectory43ERO review83 - View profile →
48
/ 100 composite
Academic63Outcomes34Retention66Wellbeing0Trajectory47ERO review70 - 9Queen Elizabeth College
Palmerston North · Secondary (Year 7-15) · 359 students · EQI 510+ (most disadvantaged)
View profile →45
/ 100 composite
Academic51Outcomes8Retention63Wellbeing31Trajectory100ERO review70 - View profile →
41
/ 100 composite
Academic61Outcomes5Retention71Wellbeing0Trajectory51ERO review75
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).