Secondary Schools

Rongotai College: Zone, NCEA Results & School Facts

A state boys' secondary school for Years 9 to 13 on Coutts Street, Kilbirnie, Wellington, with no home zone.

Last updated October 2026

Rongotai College is a state, boys’ secondary school for Years 9 to 13 at Coutts Street, Kilbirnie, Wellington. It opened in 1928 and had 701 students on its roll at 1 September 2026.

It has no home zone, so any student can apply. The school’s site describes the Tamatoa Learning Support Unit, a broad range of courses towards NCEA and New Zealand Scholarship, a bring-your-own-device programme, the Duke of Edinburgh award, sport, performing arts and clubs, and a Poly Club and kapa haka group, with a wharenui, Tangi te Keo, on its grounds.

International students can come for an academic programme working towards university entrance, a cultural exchange of six months to a year, or a short stay on their own or in a group.

At a glance

TypeSecondaryYears 9 to 13
Roll7011 Sep 2026
AuthorityStateNot integrated
StudentsBoysBoys only
Home zoneNoAny student can apply
Equity Index428Scale 344 to 569
Opened1928Boarding: no
TeachingEnglishAll classes
DonationsNot in the donation scheme: the school may ask families for donations.
Principal
Kevin Carter
Address
Coutts Street, Kilbirnie, Wellington
Visit the school website

Home zone

No home zone: any student can apply to enrol. If more students apply than there are places, the school decides how places are offered.

NCEA results

School leavers with NCEA Level 2 or above, compared with all New Zealand school leavers.

202588.1% NZ 77.8%
202485.8% NZ 76.9%
202385.9% NZ 75.8%

This school New Zealand

Level 3 or above75.4%2025 · NZ 59%

School leavers are students who left school that year, whatever year level they left from.

Who goes here

Share of the 701 students who identify with each group. Students can name more than one, so these add up to more than 100%.

European56%
Māori19%
Asian19%
Pacific17%
MELAA9%
Other1%

24 international students

Roll at 1 July, 2021 to 202520212022202320242025710 in 2021 → 719 in 2025

MELAA: Middle Eastern, Latin American and African.

Stand-downs and suspensions

Cases per 1,000 students in 2025, adjusted for the ages of the school’s students, compared with all New Zealand schools.

Stand-downs20.2 per 1,00021 cases · NZ 36.1 per 1,000

Suspensions: fewer than 5 cases in 2025, so no rate is shown.

These measure how a school responds to behaviour, and schools set their own thresholds, so they are not a measure of how students behave.

What ERO found

The Education Review Office’s latest report on the school is a Te Ara Huarau School Profile Report from October 2023. This kind of report sets out what ERO and the school will evaluate together, here how effective teaching, including lessons designed for students working at different levels, affects engagement and achievement after the college moved to mixed-ability junior classes.

ERO pointed to a shared view of good teaching that staff built together, special programmes that include students with high and complex needs, a range of pathways matched to students’ strengths and interests, and a start on regularly gathering and reporting engagement data.

Next, the school plans to analyse engagement and achievement data regularly to measure impact and guide decisions, give teachers targeted professional learning on designing lessons for different learners, and review the curriculum at every year level so it stays engaging, relevant and in step with national curriculum changes.

Read the ERO reports for Rongotai College

Enrolling

Rongotai College has no home zone, so any boy can apply. Families complete the enrolment form through the online portal or on a downloadable form, and the college then contacts them to arrange a family interview with a senior staff member.

Schools nearby

Lyall Bay SchoolPrimary · Years 1 to 6 · roll 293 · zoned · 0.7 km
St Patrick's School (Kilbirnie)Primary · Years 1 to 8 · roll 126 · 0.7 km
Evans Bay IntermediateIntermediate · Years 7 to 8 · roll 333 · zoned · 0.8 km
St Catherines College (Kilbirnie)Secondary · Years 9 to 13 · roll 206 · 0.8 km
All Wellington schools on the map

In Rongotai Wellington

Rongotai College is in Rongotai Wellington. Our suburb guide covers what it is like to live there, with parks, places and local businesses.

Read our Rongotai Wellington guide →

Questions parents ask

Is Rongotai College zoned?

No. It has no home zone, so any student can apply to enrol.

What years does it teach?

Years 9 to 13.

How many students go there?

701 at 1 Sep 2026.

Does it ask for donations?

It may. It is not in the donation scheme, so it can ask families for donations.

What is its Equity Index?

428. The Ministry of Education’s Equity Index estimates the socio-economic barriers a school’s students face, from 344 (fewest) to 569 (most). It is used to share out funding, not as a measure of quality.

Is it a single-sex school?

Yes. It takes boys only.

How did its school leavers do in NCEA?

In 2025, 88.1% of its school leavers had NCEA Level 2 or above, compared with 77.8% of all New Zealand school leavers.

Updated automatically when the Ministry publishes new data.

Spotted something incorrect on this page? Let us know.

Sources and data notes 1
  • School facts: School details and roll: Ministry of Education school directory, 28 Oct 2026 (CC BY 4.0). NCEA results, roll history and stand-downs: Education Counts, school leavers 2023 to 2025, stand-downs 2025, rolls 2021 to 2025 (CC BY 4.0).