Thames High School
300 Sealey Street, Thames · Waikato
Composite score
Developing
Below median
Rank #1,700 of scored NZ schools
In summary
Thames High School's Board of Trustees completed a comprehensive attestation to the Ministry of Education confirming compliance with regulatory and legislative requirements across Board Administration, Curriculum, Health and Safety, Personnel, Finance, and Assets. The October 2023 ERO review identified two compliance gaps: police vetting had not been renewed every three years for at least one person, and the process for filling a casual board vacancy was not sufficiently undertaken. The Board demonstrated strength in its comprehensive approach to regulatory compliance oversight.
Best suited for
Students aged 13-18 in Thames looking for a state-funded setting.
Is Thames High School a good school?
Thames High School scores 57/100 on the SchoolsNearMe composite — a weighted average of 5 axes (academic, outcomes, retention, wellbeing, trajectory). Below median nationally. The full breakdown is below; every input links to its source.
Strengths from the latest ERO report
- Board demonstrated comprehensive attestation across all regulatory and legislative requirement categories
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 86% · L2 70% · UE 46% · near band median (n=109) · why? ▼ hide
Uni 13% · Te Pūkenga 7% · Industry 12% · above band median (n=102) · why? ▼ hide
81% to Y13 · above band median (n=115) · why? ▼ hide
standdowns 44.4/1k · suspensions 6.5/1k · exclusions 0.0/1k · near band median (n=468) · why? ▼ hide
-11.0% roll over 5yr (2020→2025) · below band median (n=469) · why? ▼ hide
71/100 from ERO review 2021-09 · below band median (n=471) · 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): 71/100.
Latest ERO review
2023-10-20 · Shelley Booysen, ERO
- Board has attested to compliance with regulatory and legislative requirements across all major areas: Board Administration, Curriculum, Health and Safety, Personnel, Finance, and Assets
- Police vetting had not been renewed every three years for a person, contractor or employee working at the school
- Required process to fill a casual vacancy for an elected board member was not sufficiently undertaken
- Board has taken steps to address identified areas of non-compliance
"As of September 2023, the Thames High School Board has attested to the following regulatory and legislative requirements:"
Composite score across reviews
2 ERO reviews on file, 2019–2021. Click a point to read that review.
Audited financials
Year ended 2019 · Audit opinion: unmodified
Total revenue
$6.48M
Surplus / (deficit)
$4k
Net assets / equity
$0.84M
NCEA achievement
School leavers with NCEA at each level. National average is ~85% (Level 1).
NCEA Level 1 · 2024
85.7%
60 of 70 leavers
+8.3pt vs prior year
NCEA Level 2 · 2024
70.0%
49 of 70 leavers
+3.3pt vs prior year
University Entrance · 2024
45.7%
32 of 70 leavers
+3.8pt 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.
81.4%
2024 cohort · 70 students
+16.9pt 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.
Stand-downs · 2024
44.4
28 this year · NZ avg ~37
Suspensions · 2024
6.5
5 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 5
- Creative Industries 1
- Social and Community Services 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.
Total Crown funding · 2022
$5.24M
Per-student funding · 2022
$13,515
2018
$5.2M
2019
$6.6M
2020
$5.5M
2021
$5.3M
2022
$5.2M
Roll by year level
July 2025 roll return.
- Year 09 89
- Year 10 89
- Year 11 85
- Year 12 78
- Year 13+ 54
Roll by ethnicity
Share of total roll. Students who identify with multiple ethnicities are counted once.
- European/Pākehā 71.9%
- Māori 40.5%
- Asian 12.9%
- Pacific 5.4%
- International 4.9%
- Other / MELAA 2.6%
International students
SIEBA member · Day school only
ESOL support
full immersion
Location
300 Sealey Street, Thames. Nearby schools marked in grey.
Map tiles © OpenStreetMap, © CARTO
Schools nearby
Within 15km, sorted by distance. Add any to compare with Thames High School.
St Francis School (Thames)
Full Primary · 0.5km · 86 roll
84
+27 vs this
Thames South School
Full Primary · 0.6km · 81 roll
68
+11 vs this
Moanataiari School
Full Primary · 1.6km · 138 roll
35
-22 vs this
Pārāwai School
Full Primary · 2.3km · 237 roll
38
-19 vs this
Matatoki School
Full Primary · 9.1km · 90 roll
78
+21 vs this
- no score yet
Kopuarahi School
Full Primary · 9.6km · 8 roll
Frequently asked
Is Thames High School a good school?
Thames High School scores 57/100 on the SchoolsNearMe composite — a weighted average of 5 axes (academic, outcomes, retention, wellbeing, trajectory). Below 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 4 key findings. Board has attested to compliance with regulatory and legislative requirements across all major areas: Board Administration, Curriculum, Health and Safety, Personnel, Finance, and Assets
How do I enrol my child at Thames High School?
Contact the school directly on 07-8688688, email office@thameshigh.school.nz, or visit www.thameshigh.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?
Thames High School is a state school. There is no tuition fee for domestic students; voluntary donations may be requested.
What is the roll size?
Thames High School has 388 students, with an EQI of 489 (mid-range socio-economic context).
When was the school last reviewed by ERO?
The Education Review Office last reviewed Thames High School in 2023-10, 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
- web.archive.org
- sieba.nz
- schoolsdata.co.nz
- international.thameshigh.school.nz
- crimestats.co.nz