Aquinas College
183 Pyes Pa Road, Pyes Pa · Bay of Plenty
Composite score
Strong
Top 10% in NZ
Rank #236 of scored NZ schools
In summary
The board confirmed meeting regulatory and legislative requirements across all areas in the March 2024 ERO board assurance review. One area of non-compliance was identified regarding police vetting procedures for non-teaching staff, which the board has since addressed. No active Ministry of Education intervention is in place.
Best suited for
Students aged 13-18 in Pyes Pa looking for a state-funded setting with a strong recent ERO trajectory.
Is Aquinas College a good school?
Aquinas College scores 83/100 on the SchoolsNearMe composite — a weighted average of 5 axes (academic, outcomes, retention, wellbeing, trajectory). Top 10% in NZ nationally. ERO trajectory has declined across recent review cycles. The full breakdown is below; every input links to its source.
Strengths from the latest ERO report
- Board attested to compliance across all six regulatory requirement areas
Summary derived from ERO reports + audited financials + MoE records. Every claim links to its source — see data transparency at the bottom of this page.
Score breakdown
6 axes, each scored 0–100 on a national absolute scale. As at 2025.
L1 96% · L2 93% · UE 84% · near band median (n=66) · why? ▼ hide
Uni 59% · Te Pūkenga 8% · Industry 5% · top quartile of band (n=64) · why? ▼ hide
90% to Y13 · bottom quartile of band (n=66) · why? ▼ hide
standdowns 14.2/1k · suspensions 0.8/1k · exclusions 0.0/1k · below band median (n=536) · why? ▼ hide
+6.0% roll over 5yr (2020→2025) · top quartile of band (n=534) · why? ▼ hide
85/100 from ERO review 2024-03 · top quartile of band (n=539) · why? ▼ hide
⚠ Insufficient EQI-band peers (n<10) to compute per-axis percentile context. The score above is absolute; treat it as a single-school read rather than a peer comparison.
Real ERO composite (from the latest review): 85/100.
Latest ERO review
2024-03-21 · Shelley Booysen, ERO
- Board has attested to meeting regulatory and legislative requirements across all areas: Board Administration, Curriculum, Management of Health/Safety/Welfare, Personnel Management, Finance, and Assets
- One area of non-compliance identified: renewal of a police vet for a non-teaching staff member every three years (s 104, Education and Training Act 2020)
- The board has since addressed the identified area of non-compliance
"The board has since addressed the area of non-compliance identified."
Composite score across reviews
3 ERO reviews on file, 2015–2024. Click a point to read that review.
Trajectory across review cycles
Year-over-year change per dimension based on consecutive ERO reviews.
The 2015 report highlighted Aquinas College's developed curriculum with te reo and tikanga Māori programmes for all Years 7-9 students. By 2019, while the school maintained a diverse curriculum, ERO identified that a key next step was to 'increase te ao Māori presence in curriculum,' suggesting the Māori curriculum integration had not been substantially expanded or deepened across all year levels and achievement gaps for Māori students at Level 3 and UE had emerged as a concern.
2015-09 → 2019-01 diff source
A significant concern emerged between 2015 and 2019 regarding Māori achievement at higher NCEA levels. While the 2015 report highlighted strong overall achievement and comprehensive te reo and tikanga Māori programmes for all Years 7-9 students, the 2019 report explicitly identified a disparity where "Māori students achieve less well than their Pākehā peers" at NCEA Level 3 and University Entrance, identifying this as a key area requiring strengthened response.
2015-09 → 2019-01 diff source
Both reports describe strong overall student achievement, but the 2015 report emphasized exceptional results with 96% of leavers above Level 2, while the 2019 report noted more modest performance with "most students achieve well" but revealed emerging disparities, particularly for Māori students at Level 3 and University Entrance where they "achieve less well than Pākehā peers."
2015-09 → 2019-01 diff source
Both reports affirm strong student wellbeing support, but the 2019 report emphasizes more intensive and formalized pastoral infrastructure. The 2015 report highlights a 'comprehensive pastoral care network' and 'strong sense of belonging,' while the 2019 report stresses 'intensive wrap-around pastoral and guidance networks' with explicit external agency partnerships and increased counsellor hours, suggesting an evolution toward more systematized, wrap-around support.
2015-09 → 2019-01 diff source
Both reports affirm distributed leadership and a collaborative approach at Aquinas College. The 2015 report emphasizes the principal's well-informed educational leadership with distributive support, while the 2019 report expands this to highlight trustees and leaders working collaboratively to develop the school's vision, with stronger emphasis on shared ownership and staff capacity building across the organization.
2015-09 → 2019-01 diff source
Audited financials
Year ended 2024 · Audit opinion: unmodified
Total revenue
$12.37M
Surplus / (deficit)
+$80k
Net assets / equity
$1.65M
2 years of audited data on file · View full history (Pro)
NCEA achievement
School leavers with NCEA at each level. National average is ~85% (Level 1).
NCEA Level 1 · 2024
95.9%
94 of 98 leavers
-4.1pt vs prior year
NCEA Level 2 · 2024
92.9%
91 of 98 leavers
-1.2pt vs prior year
University Entrance · 2024
83.7%
82 of 98 leavers
+3.3pt vs prior year
Data: Ministry of Education / Education Counts, CC-BY-4.0
Stay-on rate
Percentage of students who stay at school until at least their 17th birthday — the standard NZ proxy for Year-9-to-Year-13 retention.
89.8%
2024 cohort · 98 students
-1.4pt vs 2023
Discipline (age-standardised, per 1,000 students)
Stand-down = sent home temporarily. Suspension = formal investigation. Exclusion = removed from school. National averages shown for comparison.
Stand-downs · 2024
14.2
17 this year · NZ avg ~37
Suspensions · 2024
0.8
1 this year · NZ avg ~5
Exclusions · 2024
0.0
· NZ avg ~1.5
Vocational Pathway Awards
School leavers achieving Vocational Pathway Awards by industry sector (2024).
- Service Industries 18
- Creative Industries 6
Government funding
Crown funding only (school operations + teacher salaries + property). Excludes locally-raised funds, international fees and trading income — those are in the audited financial report above.
Total Crown funding · 2022
$6.80M
Per-student funding · 2022
$8,179
2018
$5.6M
2019
$5.8M
2020
$6.5M
2021
$6.7M
2022
$6.8M
Roll by year level
July 2025 roll return.
- Year 07 138
- Year 08 135
- Year 09 120
- Year 10 113
- Year 11 111
- Year 12 102
- Year 13+ 108
Roll by ethnicity
Share of total roll. Students who identify with multiple ethnicities are counted once.
- European/Pākehā 78.6%
- Asian 19.9%
- Māori 17.2%
- Other / MELAA 4.3%
- Pacific 3.2%
- International 3.1%
International students
SIEBA member · Day school only
Location
183 Pyes Pa Road, Pyes Pa. Nearby schools marked in grey.
Map tiles © OpenStreetMap, © CARTO
Schools nearby
Within 15km, sorted by distance. Add any to compare with Aquinas College.
Taumata School
Full Primary · 1km · 708 roll
82
-1 vs this
Greenpark School (Tauranga)
Contributing · 2.1km · 722 roll
59
-24 vs this
ACG Tauranga
Composite · 2.4km · 409 roll
67
-16 vs this
Tauriko School
Full Primary · 2.6km · 256 roll
68
-15 vs this
Greerton Village School - Te Kura o Maarawaewae
Contributing · 2.7km · 420 roll
46
-37 vs this
Te Whakatipuranga (Otumoetai TPU)
Teen Parent Unit · 3.2km · roll n/a
42
-41 vs this
Frequently asked
Is Aquinas College a good school?
Aquinas College scores 83/100 on the SchoolsNearMe composite — a weighted average of 5 axes (academic, outcomes, retention, wellbeing, trajectory). Top 10% in NZ nationally. ERO trajectory has declined across recent review cycles. The full breakdown is below; every input links to its source.
What does the latest ERO review say?
ERO's 2024-03 review identified 3 key findings. Board has attested to meeting regulatory and legislative requirements across all areas: Board Administration, Curriculum, Management of Health/Safety/Welfare, Personnel Management, Finance, and Assets
How do I enrol my child at Aquinas College?
Contact the school directly on 07-5432400, email admin@aquinas.school.nz, or visit www.aquinas.school.nz. For state schools, check your home address against the school's enrolment zone — some schools are in-zone-only.
What are the fees?
Aquinas College is a state school. There is no tuition fee for domestic students; voluntary donations may be requested.
What is the roll size?
Aquinas College has 831 students, with an EQI of 402 (lower socio-economic need).
When was the school last reviewed by ERO?
The Education Review Office last reviewed Aquinas College in 2024-03, signed by Shelley Booysen. 5 ERO reports are on file in our archive.
Data transparency
Every fact on this page links to its source. We never publish a claim without provenance — read our methodology for the full rules.
Sourced from
- ero.govt.nz
- aquinas.school.nz
- sieba.nz
- schoolsdata.co.nz
- crimestats.co.nz