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New Zealand school rankings 2026

Top 100 lists for every region and category, ranked by the Success Index (NZ). Every list is built from the same official data and the same transparent formula.

ScopePrimarySecondaryStateIntegratedPrivateGirlsBoysNCEA resultsUE resultsLargest
New ZealandTop 100Top 100Top 100Top 100โ€“Top 100Top 100Top 100Top 100Top 100
NorthlandTop 100Top 100Top 100Top 100โ€“Top 100Top 100Top 100Top 100Top 100
AucklandTop 100Top 100Top 100Top 100โ€“Top 100Top 100Top 100Top 100Top 100
WaikatoTop 100Top 100Top 100Top 100โ€“Top 100Top 100Top 100Top 100Top 100
Bay of PlentyTop 100Top 100Top 100Top 100โ€“Top 100Top 100Top 100Top 100Top 100
GisborneTop 100Top 100Top 100Top 100โ€“Top 100Top 100Top 100Top 100Top 100
Hawke's BayTop 100Top 100Top 100Top 100โ€“Top 100Top 100Top 100Top 100Top 100
TaranakiTop 100Top 100Top 100Top 100โ€“Top 100Top 100Top 100Top 100Top 100
Manawatลซ-WhanganuiTop 100Top 100Top 100Top 100โ€“Top 100Top 100Top 100Top 100Top 100
WellingtonTop 100Top 100Top 100Top 100โ€“Top 100Top 100Top 100Top 100Top 100
TasmanTop 100Top 100Top 100Top 100โ€“โ€“โ€“Top 100Top 100Top 100
NelsonTop 100Top 100Top 100Top 100โ€“Top 100Top 100Top 100Top 100Top 100
MarlboroughTop 100Top 100Top 100Top 100โ€“Top 100Top 100Top 100Top 100Top 100
West CoastTop 100Top 100Top 100Top 100โ€“โ€“โ€“Top 100Top 100Top 100
CanterburyTop 100Top 100Top 100Top 100โ€“Top 100Top 100Top 100Top 100Top 100
OtagoTop 100Top 100Top 100Top 100โ€“Top 100Top 100Top 100Top 100Top 100
SouthlandTop 100Top 100Top 100Top 100โ€“Top 100Top 100Top 100Top 100Top 100
Chatham Islandsโ€“โ€“โ€“โ€“โ€“โ€“โ€“โ€“โ€“โ€“

How to use these rankings

Read this before you shortlist.

The New Zealand Success Index combines the Ministry of Education's Equity Index (EQI), which measures the socio-economic barriers a school's students face, with roll size and growth, and, for secondary schools, school-leaver NCEA Level 2 and University Entrance attainment. Lower EQI numbers indicate fewer barriers; the index rewards both low-barrier communities and strong attainment relative to barriers.

  • The Equity Index describes the student community, not teaching quality.
  • NCEA and University Entrance figures are for school leavers (all students who left in the year), so schools that retain students to Year 13 tend to score higher.
  • Primary and intermediate schools have no published attainment data, so their index is community- and roll-based.

Read the full methodology โ†’