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Secondary (Year 9-15) · State ·Boys School

Rongotai College

Coutts Street, Kilbirnie

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Total roll 696
EQI 428
Founded 1928
70

Composite score

Established

B+

Above median

Rank #1,093 of scored NZ schools

Top 25% in University Entrance

In summary

Rongotai College's most recent ERO review (October 2023) was a board assurance report. The Board attested to meeting regulatory and legislative requirements in Board Administration, Curriculum, and Management of Health, Safety and Welfare. No composite score is currently available for this school.

Best suited for

Students aged 13-18 in Kilbirnie looking for a state-funded setting with an established ERO profile.

Is Rongotai College a good school?

Rongotai College scores 70/100 on the SchoolsNearMe composite — a weighted average of 5 axes (academic, outcomes, retention, wellbeing, trajectory). Above median nationally. The full breakdown is below; every input links to its source.

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.

How this is computed
Academic
35%
L1 91% · L2 84% · UE 71% · near band median (n=81) · why?
Mean of latest NCEA Level 1 + Level 2 + UE achievement percentage from Education Counts. Year: 2024. Peer comparison: near band median (n=81).
84
Outcomes
25%
Uni 32% · Te Pūkenga 6% · Industry 11% · near band median (n=77) · why?
Share of leavers going to a New Zealand university + Te Pūkenga + Industry Training (capped at 100%). Counts are normalised when EC publishes raw cohort sizes instead of percentages. Source: Education Counts post-school destinations. Year: 2025. Peer comparison: near band median (n=77).
50
Retention
15%
87% to Y13 · near band median (n=84) · why?
Percentage of the Y9 cohort still enrolled in Y13 (all students). Source: Education Counts retention table. Year: 2024. Peer comparison: near band median (n=84).
87
Wellbeing
12%
standdowns 22.2/1k · suspensions 4.5/1k · exclusions 1.9/1k · below band median (n=518) · why?
Composite of stand-downs, suspensions, and exclusions per 1,000 students (lower is better). Formula: standdowns/1k + 2× suspensions/1k + 5× exclusions/1k. Small primary schools with no rows score top of band ("no incidents reported"). Source: Education Counts student engagement. Year: 2024. Peer comparison: below band median (n=518).
59
Trajectory
8%
-1.0% roll over 5yr (2020→2025) · near band median (n=515) · why?
5-year change in total roll. −20% → 0 score, 0% → 50, +20% → 100. Source: Education Counts roll history. Year: 2025. Peer comparison: near band median (n=515).
49
ERO review
5%
85/100 from ERO review 2023-10 · top quartile of band (n=520) · why?
Composite score from the most recent Education Review Office report (Haiku-extracted 0–100 from the published review text). For primary schools this is the heaviest axis (40%) because NCEA-style outcomes data isn't applicable. Source: ERO via Wayback archive. Year: 2023. Peer comparison: top quartile of band (n=520).
85

⚠ 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

2023-10-10 · Shelley Booysen, ERO

ERO report
  • Board has attested to meeting regulatory and legislative requirements in Board Administration
  • Board has attested to meeting regulatory and legislative requirements in Curriculum
  • Board has attested to meeting regulatory and legislative requirements in Management of Health, Safety and Welfare
  • Board has attested to meeting regulatory and legislative requirements in Personnel Management
  • Board has attested to meeting regulatory and legislative requirements in Finance
"As of November 2022, the Rongotai College Board has attested to the following regulatory and legislative requirements"
— ERO, 2023-10-10 (governance)

Composite score across reviews

2 ERO reviews on file, 2016–2023. Click a point to read that review.

latest 85
0 25 50 75 100 20162023 2016-06-07 · 78/100 2023-10-10 · 85/100

NCEA achievement

School leavers with NCEA at each level. National average is ~85% (Level 1).

Education Counts

NCEA Level 1 · 2024

91.0%

132 of 145 leavers

-0.4pt vs prior year

NCEA Level 2 · 2024

84.1%

122 of 145 leavers

-1.8pt vs prior year

University Entrance · 2024

71.0%

103 of 145 leavers

+4.6pt 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.

Education Counts

86.9%

2024 cohort · 145 students

-2.9pt 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.

Education Counts

Stand-downs · 2024

22.2

24 this year · NZ avg ~37

Suspensions · 2024

4.5

6 this year · NZ avg ~5

Exclusions · 2024

1.9

2 this year · NZ avg ~1.5

Vocational Pathway Awards

School leavers achieving Vocational Pathway Awards by industry sector (2024).

Education Counts
  • Creative Industries 23
  • Service Industries 12
  • Construction and Infrastructure 4

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.

Education Counts

Total Crown funding · 2022

$7.07M

Per-student funding · 2022

$10,160

2018

$5.7M

2019

$6.8M

2020

$6.9M

2021

$7.1M

2022

$7.1M

Roll by year level

July 2025 roll return.

Education Counts
  • Year 09
    154
  • Year 10
    135
  • Year 11
    144
  • Year 12
    152
  • Year 13+
    134

Roll by ethnicity

Share of total roll. Students who identify with multiple ethnicities are counted once.

Education Counts
  • European/Pākehā
    56.2%
  • Māori
    20.1%
  • Asian
    17.7%
  • Pacific
    16.4%
  • Other / MELAA
    9.1%
  • International
    3.9%

International students

SIEBA member · Day school only

Years accepted

Year 9-13

Location

Coutts Street, Kilbirnie. Nearby schools marked in grey.

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Frequently asked

Is Rongotai College a good school?

Rongotai College scores 70/100 on the SchoolsNearMe composite — a weighted average of 5 axes (academic, outcomes, retention, wellbeing, trajectory). Above median nationally. The full breakdown is below; every input links to its source.

What does the latest ERO review say?

ERO's 2023-10 review identified 6 key findings. Board has attested to meeting regulatory and legislative requirements in Board Administration

How do I enrol my child at Rongotai College?

Contact the school directly on 04-9393050, email the.principal@rongotai.school.nz, or visit www.rongotai.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?

Rongotai College is a state school. There is no tuition fee for domestic students; voluntary donations may be requested.

What is the roll size?

Rongotai College has 696 students, with an EQI of 428 (mid-range socio-economic context). It is a boys school-only school.

When was the school last reviewed by ERO?

The Education Review Office last reviewed Rongotai College in 2023-10, signed by Shelley Booysen. 4 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.

Last updated

10 Oct 2023

Source documents

5 cited

Spot an error?

Report a correction

Sourced from

  • ero.govt.nz
  • sieba.nz
  • schoolsdata.co.nz
  • rongotai.school.nz
  • crimestats.co.nz