Mercury Bay Area School
South Highway, Whitianga · Waikato
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Composite score
Developing
Below median
Rank #1,901 of scored NZ schools
Active MoE intervention — limited statutory manager
A limited statutory manager has been appointed to Mercury Bay Area School . NZ Gazette notice
In summary
Mercury Bay Area School's 2023 ERO board assurance review identified areas requiring improvement in safety checking of employees, health curriculum statement adoption, and complaint management procedures. The school has demonstrated compliance in board administration, finance management, and assets management. A limited statutory manager is currently active at the school.
Best suited for
Students all year levels (Year 1-13) in Whitianga looking for a state-funded setting.
Is Mercury Bay Area School a good school?
Mercury Bay Area School is currently under MoE intervention — a limited statutory manager has been appointed. The school's day-to-day teaching continues; the intervention addresses governance or operational concerns identified by the Ministry. Read the NZ Gazette notice for details.
Strengths from the latest ERO report
- Board attested to compliance in Board Administration
- Board attested to compliance in Finance management
- Board attested to compliance in Assets management
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 78% · L2 61% · UE 36% · bottom quartile of band (n=84) · why? ▼ hide
Uni 28% · Te Pūkenga 2% · Industry 21% · top quartile of band (n=81) · why? ▼ hide
69% to Y13 · bottom quartile of band (n=86) · why? ▼ hide
standdowns 108.5/1k · suspensions 7.4/1k · exclusions 3.3/1k · bottom quartile of band (n=404) · why? ▼ hide
-15.2% roll over 5yr (2020→2025) · bottom quartile of band (n=403) · why? ▼ hide
82/100 from ERO review 2023-05 · above band median (n=406) · 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): 82/100.
Latest ERO review
2023-05-05 · Shelley Booysen, ERO
- Safety checking of employees has not been completed to meet the expectations of the Children's Act 2014
- The requirement to adopt a statement on the delivery of the health curriculum, at least once in every two years, after consultation with the school community has not been met
- Board procedure in the management of complaints was identified as needing improvement
- Board has attested to meeting requirements in Board Administration, Curriculum, Management of Health Safety and Welfare, Personnel Management, Finance, and Assets
- The board has since addressed areas of non-compliance identified
"Safety checking of employees has not been completed to meet the expectations of the Children's Act 2014."
Composite score across reviews
3 ERO reviews on file, 2014–2023. Click a point to read that review.
Audited financials
Year ended 2024 · Audit opinion: unmodified
Total revenue
$13.02M
Surplus / (deficit)
+$243k
Net assets / equity
$2.25M
NCEA achievement
School leavers with NCEA at each level. National average is ~85% (Level 1).
NCEA Level 1 · 2024
77.6%
76 of 98 leavers
-3.3pt vs prior year
NCEA Level 2 · 2024
61.2%
60 of 98 leavers
-9.6pt vs prior year
University Entrance · 2024
35.7%
35 of 98 leavers
+4.2pt 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.
69.4%
2024 cohort · 98 students
-9.3pt 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
108.5
110 this year · NZ avg ~37
Suspensions · 2024
7.4
8 this year · NZ avg ~5
Exclusions · 2024
3.3
3 this year · NZ avg ~1.5
Vocational Pathway Awards
School leavers achieving Vocational Pathway Awards by industry sector (2024).
- Service Industries 5
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
$9.70M
Per-student funding · 2022
$10,865
2018
$7.9M
2019
$8.4M
2020
$9.2M
2021
$10.9M
2022
$9.7M
Roll by year level
July 2025 roll return.
- Year 01 35
- Year 02 59
- Year 03 47
- Year 04 76
- Year 05 51
- Year 06 45
- Year 07 70
- Year 08 82
- Year 09 75
- Year 10 95
- Year 11 87
- Year 12 102
- Year 13+ 49
Roll by ethnicity
Share of total roll. Students who identify with multiple ethnicities are counted once.
- European/Pākehā 76.3%
- Māori 25.1%
- Asian 6.2%
- Pacific 3.4%
- International 2.1%
- Other / MELAA 1.8%
International students
SIEBA member · Day school only
ESOL support
partial
Years accepted
11, 12, 13
Location
South Highway, Whitianga. Nearby schools marked in grey.
Map tiles © OpenStreetMap, © CARTO
Schools nearby
Within 15km, sorted by distance. Add any to compare with Mercury Bay Area School.
Frequently asked
Is Mercury Bay Area School a good school?
Mercury Bay Area School is currently under MoE intervention — a limited statutory manager has been appointed. The school's day-to-day teaching continues; the intervention addresses governance or operational concerns identified by the Ministry. Read the NZ Gazette notice for details.
What does the latest ERO review say?
ERO's 2023-05 review identified 5 key findings. Safety checking of employees has not been completed to meet the expectations of the Children's Act 2014
How do I enrol my child at Mercury Bay Area School?
Contact the school directly on 07-8665916, email mbas@mbas.ac.nz, or visit www.mbas.ac.nz. For state schools, check your home address against the school's enrolment zone — some schools are in-zone-only.
What are the fees?
Mercury Bay Area School is a state school. There is no tuition fee for domestic students; voluntary donations may be requested.
What is the roll size?
Mercury Bay Area School has 893 students, with an EQI of 465 (mid-range socio-economic context).
When was the school last reviewed by ERO?
The Education Review Office last reviewed Mercury Bay Area School in 2023-05, 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
- drive.google.com
- gazette.govt.nz
- sieba.nz
- schoolsdata.co.nz
- mbas.ac.nz
- crimestats.co.nz