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

St John's College (Hillcrest)

Q: Is St John's College (Hillcrest) a good school?

St John's College (Hillcrest) scores 75/100 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.

Q: What does the latest ERO review say?

ERO's 2023-07 review identified 6 key findings. Board of Trustees has attested to meeting regulatory and legislative requirements across all assessed areas as of December 2022

Q: How do I enrol my child at St John's College (Hillcrest)?

Contact the school directly on 07-8567091, email secretary@stjohns-hamilton.school.nz, or visit www.stjohns-hamilton.school.nz. For state schools, check your home address against the school's enrolment zone — some schools are in-zone-only.

Q: What are the fees?

St John's College (Hillcrest) is a state school. There is no tuition fee for domestic students; voluntary donations may be requested.

Q: What is the roll size?

St John's College (Hillcrest) has 924 students, with an EQI of 428 (mid-range socio-economic context). It is a boys school-only school.

Q: When was the school last reviewed by ERO?

The Education Review Office last reviewed St John's College (Hillcrest) in 2023-07, signed by Shelley Booysen. 5 ERO reports are on file in our archive.

85 Hillcrest Road, Hillcrest · Waikato

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Total roll 924

EQI 428

Founded 1960

Composite score

Established

B+

Above median

Rank #745 of scored NZ schools

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Top 25% in NCEA Level 2 Top 25% in NCEA Level 1

Accepts international students (SIEBA member) SIEBA member State-integrated school State-integrated Catholic Boys-only school Secondary school (Secondary (Year 9-15))

In summary

St John's College (Hillcrest) is a secondary school in Hillcrest, Hamilton, serving students in Years 9-15 with a roll of 924. The Board of Trustees' 2023 assurance review confirmed compliance with regulatory and legislative requirements, including board administration and curriculum requirements as of December 2022. No composite score is currently available.

Best suited for

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

Is St John's College (Hillcrest) a good school?

St John's College (Hillcrest) scores 75/100 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 97% · L2 93% · UE 59% · top quartile of band (n=81) · why?

Mean of latest NCEA Level 1 + Level 2 + UE achievement percentage from Education Counts. Year: 2024. Peer comparison: top quartile of band (n=81).

Outcomes

25%

Uni 28% · Te Pūkenga 8% · Industry 19% · above 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: above band median (n=77).

Retention

15%

80% to Y13 · bottom quartile of band (n=84) · why?

Percentage of the Y9 cohort still enrolled in Y13 (all students). Source: Education Counts retention table. Year: 2024. Peer comparison: bottom quartile of band (n=84).

Wellbeing

12%

standdowns 20.7/1k · suspensions 1.6/1k · exclusions 0.6/1k · 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).

Trajectory

+15.6% roll over 5yr (2020→2025) · top quartile of band (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: top quartile of band (n=515).

ERO review

82/100 from ERO review 2023-07 · above band median (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: above band median (n=520).

⚠ 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

2023-07-27 · Shelley Booysen, ERO

ERO report

Board of Trustees has attested to meeting regulatory and legislative requirements across all assessed areas as of December 2022
Board Administration requirements confirmed
Curriculum requirements confirmed
Management of Health, Safety and Welfare requirements confirmed
Personnel Management requirements confirmed

"As of December 2022, the St John's College (Hillcrest) Board of Trustees has attested to the following regulatory and legislative requirements"
— ERO, 2023-07-27 (governance)

Composite score across reviews

3 ERO reviews on file, 2013–2023. Click a point to read that review.

latest 82

Audited financials

Year ended 2025 · Audit opinion: unmodified

Annual report

Total revenue

$13.28M

Surplus / (deficit)

$214k

Net assets / equity

$2.43M

NCEA achievement

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

Education Counts

NCEA Level 1 · 2024

96.8%

182 of 188 leavers

-0.3pt vs prior year

NCEA Level 2 · 2024

93.1%

175 of 188 leavers

+5.7pt vs prior year

University Entrance · 2024

58.5%

110 of 188 leavers

-3.2pt 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.

Education Counts

80.3%

2024 cohort · 188 students

-3.1pt 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

20.7

32 this year · NZ avg ~37

Suspensions · 2024

1.6

3 this year · NZ avg ~5

Exclusions · 2024

0.6

1 this year · NZ avg ~1.5

Vocational Pathway Awards

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

Education Counts

Construction and Infrastructure 5
Creative Industries 2
Primary Industries 1
Service Industries 1

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

$7.80M

Per-student funding · 2022

$8,446

2018

$6.0M

2019

$6.2M

2020

$7.1M

2021

$7.4M

2022

$7.8M

Roll by year level

July 2025 roll return.

Education Counts

Year 09

208
Year 10

218
Year 11

203
Year 12

198
Year 13+

137

Roll by ethnicity

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

Education Counts

European/Pākehā

74.2%
Asian

18.4%
Māori

18.0%
Pacific

9.1%
Other / MELAA

3.9%
International

1.5%

International students

SIEBA member · Day school only

ESOL support

partial

Location

85 Hillcrest Road, Hillcrest. Nearby schools marked in grey.

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Frequently asked

Is St John's College (Hillcrest) a good school?

What does the latest ERO review say?

ERO's 2023-07 review identified 6 key findings. Board of Trustees has attested to meeting regulatory and legislative requirements across all assessed areas as of December 2022

How do I enrol my child at St John's College (Hillcrest)?

Contact the school directly on 07-8567091, email secretary@stjohns-hamilton.school.nz, or visit www.stjohns-hamilton.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?

St John's College (Hillcrest) is a state school. There is no tuition fee for domestic students; voluntary donations may be requested.

What is the roll size?

St John's College (Hillcrest) has 924 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 St John's College (Hillcrest) in 2023-07, 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.

Last updated

31 Dec 2025

Source documents

6 cited

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ero.govt.nz
stjohnshamilton.ibcdn.nz
sieba.nz
schoolsdata.co.nz
stjohns-hamilton.school.nz
crimestats.co.nz