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Secondary (Year 9-15) · State

Wellington High School and Com Ed Centre

Taranaki Street, Wellington

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Total roll 1,660
EQI 401
Founded 1886
78

Composite score

Established

B+

Top 25% in NZ

Rank #516 of scored NZ schools

In summary

Wellington High School and Com Ed Centre was reviewed by the Education Review Office in June 2022. The school maintains a culture of evaluation that reflects on and acts to improve experiences for learners, whānau and teachers. It provides an inclusive, co-educational environment and offers a curriculum rich in engagement and enrichment opportunities.

Best suited for

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

Is Wellington High School and Com Ed Centre a good school?

Wellington High School and Com Ed Centre scores 78/100 on the SchoolsNearMe composite — a weighted average of 5 axes (academic, outcomes, retention, wellbeing, trajectory). Top 25% in NZ nationally. The full breakdown is below; every input links to its source.

Strengths from the latest ERO report

  • A culture of evaluation that reflects on and acts to improve the experiences of learners, whānau and teachers
  • An inclusive, co-educational environment that embraces the uniqueness of individual students
  • A curriculum rich in opportunity for engagement in learning and enrichment activities

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 89% · L2 83% · UE 65% · bottom 10% of band (n=66) · why?
Mean of latest NCEA Level 1 + Level 2 + UE achievement percentage from Education Counts. Year: 2024. Peer comparison: bottom 10% of band (n=66).
82
Outcomes
25%
Uni 49% · Te Pūkenga 5% · Industry 5% · bottom quartile of band (n=64) · 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: bottom quartile of band (n=64).
59
Retention
15%
90% to Y13 · bottom quartile of band (n=66) · 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=66).
90
Wellbeing
12%
standdowns 11.2/1k · suspensions 0.0/1k · exclusions 0.0/1k · near band median (n=536) · 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: near band median (n=536).
89
Trajectory
8%
+23.5% roll over 5yr (2020→2025) · top 10% of band (n=534) · why?
5-year change in total roll. −20% → 0 score, 0% → 50, +20% → 100. Source: Education Counts roll history. Year: 2025. Peer comparison: top 10% of band (n=534).
79
ERO review
5%
85/100 from ERO review 2022-06 · top quartile of band (n=539) · 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: 2022. Peer comparison: top quartile of band (n=539).
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

2022-06-17 · Dr Lesley Patterson, Southern Region | Te Tai Tini

ERO report
  • School has a culture of evaluation that reflects on and acts to improve the experiences of learners, whānau and teachers
  • School provides an inclusive, co-educational environment that embraces the uniqueness of individual students
  • Curriculum is rich in opportunity for engagement in learning and enrichment activities
  • School committed to understanding student experiences and outcomes in relation to wellbeing, engagement, sufficiency of progress, and achievement over time
"ensure equity of outcomes for all, strengthening relationships with parents and whānau through the development of learning partnerships"
— ERO, 2022-06-17 (equity)

Audited financials

Year ended 2018 · Audit opinion: unmodified

Annual report

Total revenue

$14.68M

Surplus / (deficit)

+$17k

Net assets / equity

$4.23M

NCEA achievement

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

Education Counts

NCEA Level 1 · 2024

89.0%

283 of 318 leavers

+0.5pt vs prior year

NCEA Level 2 · 2024

83.0%

264 of 318 leavers

+0.8pt vs prior year

University Entrance · 2024

65.4%

208 of 318 leavers

+0.4pt 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

89.9%

2024 cohort · 318 students

+0.7pt 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

11.2

28 this year · NZ avg ~37

Suspensions · 2024

0.0

· NZ avg ~5

Exclusions · 2024

0.0

· NZ avg ~1.5

Vocational Pathway Awards

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

Education Counts
  • Creative Industries 23
  • Service Industries 4
  • Primary Industries 2
  • Manufacturing and Technology 2
  • Construction and Infrastructure 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

$13.51M

Per-student funding · 2022

$8,136

2018

$9.3M

2019

$9.7M

2020

$14.3M

2021

$13.9M

2022

$13.5M

Roll by year level

July 2025 roll return.

Education Counts
  • Year 09
    294
  • Year 10
    331
  • Year 11
    365
  • Year 12
    340
  • Year 13+
    344

Roll by ethnicity

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

Education Counts
  • European/Pākehā
    81.8%
  • Asian
    16.1%
  • Māori
    10.5%
  • Other / MELAA
    7.5%
  • International
    3.6%
  • Pacific
    3.5%

International students

SIEBA member · Day school only

Location

Taranaki Street, Wellington. Nearby schools marked in grey.

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Frequently asked

Is Wellington High School and Com Ed Centre a good school?

Wellington High School and Com Ed Centre scores 78/100 on the SchoolsNearMe composite — a weighted average of 5 axes (academic, outcomes, retention, wellbeing, trajectory). Top 25% in NZ nationally. The full breakdown is below; every input links to its source.

What does the latest ERO review say?

ERO's 2022-06 review identified 4 key findings. School has a culture of evaluation that reflects on and acts to improve the experiences of learners, whānau and teachers

How do I enrol my child at Wellington High School and Com Ed Centre?

Contact the school directly on 04-3858911, email admin@whs.school.nz, or visit www.whs.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?

Wellington High School and Com Ed Centre is a state school. There is no tuition fee for domestic students; voluntary donations may be requested.

What is the roll size?

Wellington High School and Com Ed Centre has 1,660 students, with an EQI of 401 (lower socio-economic need).

When was the school last reviewed by ERO?

The Education Review Office last reviewed Wellington High School and Com Ed Centre in 2022-06, signed by Dr Lesley Patterson. 3 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

17 Jun 2022

Source documents

5 cited

Spot an error?

Report a correction

Sourced from

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