Tuakau College
Secondary (Year 7-15) · State
- Year levels
- 7–13
- Total roll
- 1,016
- Enrolment zone
- Yes
- Gender
- Co-Educational
Where is it, and how do I get in touch?
- Address
- Elizabeth Street, Tuakau
- Territorial authority
- Waikato District
- Phone
- 09-2368521
- secretary@tuakaucollege.com
- Website
- http://www.tuakaucollege.com
- Directions
- Get directions
Other schools nearby: schools in Waikato
Can my child go here?
This school has an enrolment scheme, so a place is not open to every address. How enrolment zones work
Loading zone map…
Zone boundaries shown here are approximate. Ministry of Education data warns these boundaries do not have high spatial precision and can place neighbouring addresses on different sides of a line. This is not a confirmation of enrolment eligibility — always confirm directly with the school. Zone geometry also does not reflect enrolment priority rules (siblings, special character categories, ballots) — it shows the mapped boundary only.
Check if your address is in zone →
Source: Ministry of Education, CC BY 3.0 NZ
What would the day look like?
The practical things this school states on its own website — the hours, the uniform, the term dates, and how children get there. These are the school’s own words, not the Ministry’s record and not ERO’s.
Quoted from this school’s own website, as we read it on 13 August 2026. A web page carries no date of its own, so that is the day we read it — not a statement that any of this is still the case. Each line quotes the words it came from.
- Uniform
- Required
Parents/caregivers; we need your support to ensure your son(s)/daughter(s) are wearing the uniform appropriately and that non-uniform items are not brought to school.
- Required
- Where to buy the uniform
- http://www.theuniformshoppe.co.nz
Website: [www.theuniformshoppe.co.nz](http://www.theuniformshoppe.co.nz) or see the link below.
- http://www.theuniformshoppe.co.nz
What does the school say about itself?
Quoted, not summarised. Every school describes itself well, so this is here to be read as the school’s own case rather than as a finding — and a school that states nothing simply has no row.
Quoted from this school’s own website, as we read it on 13 August 2026. A web page carries no date of its own, so that is the day we read it — not a statement that any of this is still the case. Each line quotes the words it came from.
- In their words
- Tuakau College has four core values and they are: ‘Caring, Love and Respect,’ ‘Integrity,’ ‘Perseverance’ and ‘Excellence.’
- Tuakau College prepares students for life through a quality education promoting excellence in all things.
What is on offer beyond the classroom?
The sports, arts, clubs and groups this school names on its own website. Not a complete list of what any school offers, and not a count — a school that names more here has written more down, which is not the same as doing more.
Quoted from this school’s own website, as we read it on 13 August 2026. A web page carries no date of its own, so that is the day we read it — not a statement that any of this is still the case. Each line quotes the words it came from.
- On offer
- Motocross
Not all sports offered at Tuakau College are listed below - such as Motocross, etc.
- Motocross
Who goes here?
Ethnicity breakdown of the total roll, shown as context. Not ranked, and not compared against any average.
- European
- 584
- Māori
- 345
- Pacific
- 177
- Asian
- 179
- MELAA
- 31
- Other
- 29
- International
- 0
Roll by year level and age
Shown as context, not ranked, not compared to any average. As at 30 June 2026, from the same annual return as the roll count above.
| Māori | Pacific | Asian | MELAA | Other | European/ Pākehā | International students | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year 07 | 40 | 20 | 10 | 0 | 6 | 66 | 0 | 100 |
| Year 08 | 62 | 32 | 22 | 2 | 3 | 105 | 0 | 165 |
| Year 09 | 65 | 42 | 32 | 4 | 7 | 123 | 0 | 201 |
| Year 10 | 61 | 25 | 30 | 6 | 2 | 99 | 0 | 166 |
| Year 11 | 61 | 22 | 27 | 3 | 3 | 102 | 0 | 170 |
| Year 12 | 43 | 20 | 33 | 6 | 6 | 65 | 0 | 138 |
| Year 13+ | 37 | 20 | 14 | 4 | 3 | 43 | 0 | 94 |
| Total | 369 | 181 | 168 | 25 | 30 | 603 | 0 | 1034 |
| Māori | Pacific | Asian | MELAA | Other | European/ Pākehā | International students | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Age 11 | 32 | 13 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 52 | 0 | 79 |
| Age 12 | 63 | 33 | 18 | 1 | 6 | 103 | 0 | 161 |
| Age 13 | 57 | 39 | 32 | 4 | 6 | 118 | 0 | 189 |
| Age 14 | 64 | 29 | 30 | 6 | 2 | 104 | 0 | 175 |
| Age 15 | 63 | 21 | 27 | 3 | 2 | 97 | 0 | 166 |
| Age 16 | 47 | 21 | 30 | 5 | 5 | 78 | 0 | 144 |
| Age 17 | 40 | 20 | 13 | 3 | 5 | 45 | 0 | 97 |
| Age 18 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 21 |
| Age 19+ | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 369 | 181 | 168 | 25 | 30 | 603 | 0 | 1034 |
Source: Education Counts, Ministry of Education, CC BY 4.0
Academic results
Percentage with NCEA level 1 or above — 2025
86.1%
| Tuakau College | 86.1% |
|---|---|
| Waikato Region | 84.2% |
| Secondary (Year 7-15) | 89.6% |
| State: Not integrated | 83.6% |
| New Zealand | 85.2% |
Trend and demographic breakdown
| Female | 88.5% |
|---|---|
| Male | 83.3% |
| Māori | 81% |
| Pacific | 85.2% |
| Asian | 94.1% |
| MELAA | Too few to report |
| Other | Too few to report |
| European/Pākehā | 81.4% |
| Total | 86.1% |
Source: Education Counts, Ministry of Education, CC BY 4.0 — Table 2: Comparison NCEA level 1 data (2023-2025)
Percentage with NCEA level 2 or above — 2025
80.6%
| Tuakau College | 80.6% |
|---|---|
| Waikato Region | 75.7% |
| Secondary (Year 7-15) | 83.3% |
| State: Not integrated | 75.4% |
| New Zealand | 77.8% |
Trend and demographic breakdown
| Female | 84.6% |
|---|---|
| Male | 75.8% |
| Māori | 71.4% |
| Pacific | 81.5% |
| Asian | 88.2% |
| MELAA | Too few to report |
| Other | Too few to report |
| European/Pākehā | 77.1% |
| Total | 80.6% |
Source: Education Counts, Ministry of Education, CC BY 4.0 — Table 2: Comparison NCEA level 2 data (2023-2025)
Percentage with NCEA level 3 or above — 2025
53.5%
| Tuakau College | 53.5% |
|---|---|
| Waikato Region | 51.3% |
| Secondary (Year 7-15) | 64.5% |
| State: Not integrated | 55.2% |
| New Zealand | 59% |
Trend and demographic breakdown
| Female | 57.7% |
|---|---|
| Male | 48.5% |
| Māori | 46% |
| Pacific | 59.3% |
| Asian | 70.6% |
| MELAA | Too few to report |
| Other | Too few to report |
| European/Pākehā | 57.1% |
| Total | 53.5% |
Source: Education Counts, Ministry of Education, CC BY 4.0 — Table 2: Comparison NCEA level 3 data (2023-2025)
Percentage with VP Award — 2025
21.5%
| Tuakau College | 21.5% |
|---|---|
| Waikato Region | 15.1% |
| Secondary (Year 7-15) | 14.7% |
| State: Not integrated | 14.4% |
| New Zealand | 14.1% |
Trend and demographic breakdown
| Female | 30.8% |
|---|---|
| Male | 10.6% |
| Māori | 23.8% |
| Pacific | 22.2% |
| Asian | 17.6% |
| MELAA | Too few to report |
| Other | Too few to report |
| European/Pākehā | 15.7% |
| Total | 21.5% |
Source: Education Counts, Ministry of Education, CC BY 4.0 — Table 2: Comparison Vocational Pathway data (2023-2025)
Retention
Percentage staying until at least 17th birthday — 2025
77.1%
| Tuakau College | 77.1% |
|---|---|
| Waikato Region | 77.4% |
| Secondary (Year 7-15) | 83.1% |
| State: Not integrated | 81.4% |
| New Zealand | 83% |
Trend and demographic breakdown
| Female | 79.5% |
|---|---|
| Male | 74.2% |
| Māori | 71.4% |
| Pacific | 81.5% |
| Asian | 94.1% |
| MELAA | Too few to report |
| Other | Too few to report |
| European/Pākehā | 68.6% |
| Total | 77.1% |
Source: Education Counts, Ministry of Education, CC BY 4.0 — Table 2: Comparison trend data (2023-2025)
— 2024
not reported
| Female | not reported |
|---|---|
| Male | not reported |
| Māori | not reported |
| Pacific | not reported |
| Asian | not reported |
| MELAA | not reported |
| Other | not reported |
| European/Pākehā | not reported |
| Total | not reported |
Source: Education Counts, Ministry of Education, CC BY 4.0 — Table 1: School leavers enrolled in tertiary education one year after leaving school (2022-2024 leaver cohorts)
— 2023
not reported
| Female | not reported |
|---|---|
| Male | not reported |
| Māori | not reported |
| Pacific | not reported |
| Asian | not reported |
| MELAA | not reported |
| Other | not reported |
| European/Pākehā | not reported |
| Total | not reported |
Source: Education Counts, Ministry of Education, CC BY 4.0 — Table 2: School leavers enrolled in tertiary education two years after leaving school (2021-2023 leaver cohorts)
— 2024
not reported
| Female | not reported |
|---|---|
| Male | not reported |
| Māori | not reported |
| Pacific | not reported |
| Asian | not reported |
| MELAA | not reported |
| Other | not reported |
| European/Pākehā | not reported |
| Total | not reported |
Source: Education Counts, Ministry of Education, CC BY 4.0 — Table 1: School leavers enrolled in tertiary education one year after leaving school (2022-2024 leaver cohorts)
— 2023
not reported
| Female | not reported |
|---|---|
| Male | not reported |
| Māori | not reported |
| Pacific | not reported |
| Asian | not reported |
| MELAA | not reported |
| Other | not reported |
| European/Pākehā | not reported |
| Total | not reported |
Source: Education Counts, Ministry of Education, CC BY 4.0 — Table 2: School leavers enrolled in tertiary education two years after leaving school (2021-2023 leaver cohorts)
Student engagement
Age-standardised stand-down rate per 1,000 students — 2024
80.9%
| Tuakau College | 80.9% |
|---|---|
| Waikato Region | 53.9% |
| Secondary (Year 7-15) | 43.4% |
| State | 40.2% |
| New Zealand | 37.1% |
Trend and demographic breakdown
| Female | 54.1% |
|---|---|
| Male | 106.4% |
| Māori | 122.1% |
| Pacific | 72.1% |
| Asian | 19.6% |
| Other | 37% |
| European/Pākehā | 73.6% |
| Total | 80.9% |
Source: Education Counts, Ministry of Education, CC BY 4.0 — Table 2: Comparison stand-down rates data (2024)
Age-standardised suspension rate per 1,000 students — 2024
5.4%
| Tuakau College | 5.4% |
|---|---|
| Waikato Region | 6.6% |
| Secondary (Year 7-15) | 4.6% |
| State | 4.5% |
| New Zealand | 4.1% |
Trend and demographic breakdown
| Female | 3.3% |
|---|---|
| Male | 7.3% |
| Māori | 8.2% |
| Pacific | 6.9% |
| Asian | 3.5% |
| Other | 0% |
| European/Pākehā | 3.7% |
| Total | 5.4% |
Source: Education Counts, Ministry of Education, CC BY 4.0 — Table 2: Comparison suspension rates data (2024)
Age-standardised exclusion rate per 1,000 students — 2024
2.5%
| Tuakau College | 2.5% |
|---|---|
| Waikato Region | 2.4% |
| Secondary (Year 7-15) | 2% |
| State | 1.9% |
| New Zealand | 1.8% |
Trend and demographic breakdown
| Female | 1.3% |
|---|---|
| Male | 3.6% |
| Māori | 4.8% |
| Pacific | 4.1% |
| Asian | 0% |
| Other | 0% |
| European/Pākehā | 2.1% |
| Total | 2.5% |
Source: Education Counts, Ministry of Education, CC BY 4.0 — Table 2: Comparison exclusion data (2024)
About the school
- Equity Index (EQI)
- 485
- Boarding
- No
- Language of instruction
- Some students taught in te reo Māori
- Urban / rural
- Small urban area
- Date opened
- 31 January 1974
The Equity Index is used by the Ministry to allocate equity funding. It describes the socio-economic barriers a school’s students face, not how good the school is. How the Equity Index works
What did ERO find?
The Education Review Office reviews every school and publishes what it finds in full. We quote ERO’s report here, section by section, in ERO’s own words and order, and link to it. We do not summarise a report, pick a line out of one, or turn one into a score. How ERO reviews schools
- Reports ERO holds
- 3
- Last reviewed
- 20 June 2023
- Latest report
- Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report
- Report type
- Profile report
- Board assurance
- The board attested to all areas (20 June 2023)
A board assurance statement is the board’s own account of whether it took all reasonable steps to meet its legal obligations, on the date shown. It is not ERO’s finding. ERO reports separately, in the same report, on any non-compliance it identified during that process.
The board assurance report of 20 June 2023 carries no actions-for-compliance section — the section ERO uses when it names non-compliance it identified. That is what this report contains; it is not ERO saying it found none. Other reports ERO holds for this school may say something different.
The roll ERO recorded, and when
ERO writes a roll into each report it publishes: a count taken for that report, on the day shown, by the review team that was there. The Ministry of Education’s current roll for this school is 1016 — the figure at the top of this page, and the one to use for how big the school is now. These are a different measurement by a different body, so they will rarely agree, and a difference between them is not a change in the school.
August 2015
615
Counted while ERO’s review team was at the school. Education Review Office, report of 9 October 2015
This is one count taken for one report. It says what the roll was on that day, and nothing about how the roll has moved.
What ERO wrote in its latest report
This is ERO’s report of 20 June 2023 — “Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report” — section by section, under ERO’s own headings, in ERO’s own order. Nothing is summarised, shortened or reordered.
Background
This Profile Report was written within 15 months of the Education Review Office and Tuakau College working in Te Ara Huarau , an improvement evaluation approach used in most English Medium State and State Integrated Schools. For more information about Te Ara Huarau see ERO’s website. www.ero.govt.nz
Context
Tuakau College is located in Tuakau , a semi-rural township in N orth Waikato . The school caters for students in Y ears 7 to 13.
Tuakau College’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are to:
use data more effectively to inform teaching, learning and assessment decisions
continue to improve student achievement in NCEA in all curriculum areas
use pastoral data to effectively support student wellbeing
promote cross-curriculum literacy and numeracy in Years 7 to 10
support the progression of students’ reo rua in the school’s bi-lingual classes.
You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on Tuakau College’s website.
ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how effectively trustees, leaders and teachers use data to support improved outcomes for learners?
The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:
to effectively accelerate students’ progress to set them up for NCEA success
to support strong literacy and numeracy understanding and skills for NCEA and vocational success
to provide coherent education pathways that connect to further education or employment
to strengthen how the school supports Māori to enjoy educational success as Māori .
The school expects to see improvements in the way teachers collect and use reliable, consistent and accurate data to plan for targeted and relevant teaching and learning opportunities.
Strengths
The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to effectively use data to improve outcomes for learners:
an inclusive school environment that supports and celebrates success for all
a range of data is collected to monitor and track students to support academic and social progress
responding to change effectively and efficiently to improve outcomes for students (covid-hybrid learning).
Where to next?
Moving forward, the school will prioritise:
developing a collaborative and consistent approach to selecting and using assessment tools to build staff capability in data use for effective teaching and learning
developing systems and processes to share, analyse and communicate data at all levels of school operations to support strategic decision making to improve student outcomes.
ERO’s role will be to support the school in its evaluation for improvement cycle to improve outcomes for all learners. ERO will support the school in reporting progress to the community. The next public report on ERO’s website will be a Te Ara Huarau | School Evaluation Report and is due within three years.
Shelley Booysen Director of Schools
20 June 2023
About the School
The Education Counts website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement. educationcounts.govt.nz/home
Read the full report on ero.govt.nz →
All 3 reports ERO holds for this school
ERO reviews a school every few years — around four years between reviews is the usual cycle — so an older date here reflects where a school sits in that cycle, not how it is doing.
Source: Education Review Office, CC BY 4.0.
Roll date: 30 June 2026 (2026).