Whanganui High School
Secondary (Year 9-15) · State
- Year levels
- 9–13
- Total roll
- 1,462
- Enrolment zone
- No
- Gender
- Co-Educational
Where is it, and how do I get in touch?
- Address
- 76 Purnell Street, Whanganui
- Territorial authority
- Whanganui District
- Phone
- 06-3490178
- principal@whs.ac.nz
- Directions
- Get directions
Other schools nearby: schools in Manawatū-Whanganui
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.
- School day starts
- 8:50
8:50 First Bell
- 8:50
- Uniform
- Required
All students are expected to wear the prescribed school uniform in a tidy manner.
- Required
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.
- International students
- Accepted, as stated
BECOME A HOMESTAY FAMILY Welcome an international student into your home and make a lasting impact.
- Accepted, as stated
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
- Sports Performance Programme
We also offer a Sports Performance Programme.
- athletics programme
Whanganui High School has a very strong athletics programme and have shown its great depth especially in sprints and hurdles in local, regional and national competitions.
- Cross Country
We have a year-round programme with emphasis on Athletics in summer and Cross Country and Conditioning during winter.
- Badminton
Badminton is held in Term 2 and 3, Fridays after school in the Te Wehi and Te Mana
- Girls' Cricket
Girls' Cricket is a developing sport at Whanganui High School.
- Dance
Students are able to challenge themselves in many different areas - Dance, Drama, Music, Stage Challenge, Productions, Kapahaka, Pasifika; or even as a combination of several of these activities.
- Drama
Students are able to challenge themselves in many different areas - Dance, Drama, Music, Stage Challenge, Productions, Kapahaka, Pasifika; or even as a combination of several of these activities.
- Music
Students are able to challenge themselves in many different areas - Dance, Drama, Music, Stage Challenge, Productions, Kapahaka, Pasifika; or even as a combination of several of these activities.
- Stage Challenge
Students are able to challenge themselves in many different areas - Dance, Drama, Music, Stage Challenge, Productions, Kapahaka, Pasifika; or even as a combination of several of these activities.
- Productions
Students are able to challenge themselves in many different areas - Dance, Drama, Music, Stage Challenge, Productions, Kapahaka, Pasifika; or even as a combination of several of these activities.
- Kapahaka
Students are able to challenge themselves in many different areas - Dance, Drama, Music, Stage Challenge, Productions, Kapahaka, Pasifika; or even as a combination of several of these activities.
- Pasifika
Students are able to challenge themselves in many different areas - Dance, Drama, Music, Stage Challenge, Productions, Kapahaka, Pasifika; or even as a combination of several of these activities.
- Chamber Music Contest
The New Zealand Community Trust Chamber Music Contest is the longest running youth music competition in New Zealand and is the only nationwide chamber music competition for young secondary school musicians and composers in the country.
- AwaSide
AwaSide is a choir for students who love to sing and are keen to develop their vocal abilities.
- DanceNZmade
Whanganui High School has gained success in the DanceNZmade competition over the past years.
- Kia Whaiora
Kia Whaiora is our school Kapa Haka, originally established in 1999.
- extra curricular tuition
Priority for lessons are given to NCEA students, however there is limited availability for extra curricular tuition.
- Open Mic
[Open Mic](http://www.whanganuihigh.school.nz/extracurricular-activities/open-mic)
- Rockquest
[Rockquest](http://www.whanganuihigh.school.nz/extracurricular-activities/rockquest)
- Show Quest
[Show Quest](http://www.whanganuihigh.school.nz/extracurricular-activities/stage-art)
- Theatresports Championships
[Theatresports Championships](http://www.whanganuihigh.school.nz/extracurricular-activities/theatresports-championships)
- Sports Performance Programme
Who goes here?
Ethnicity breakdown of the total roll, shown as context. Not ranked, and not compared against any average.
- European
- 1,092
- Māori
- 460
- Pacific
- 80
- Asian
- 120
- MELAA
- 17
- Other
- 13
- International
- 27
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 09 | 114 | 18 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 240 | 0 | 304 |
| Year 10 | 98 | 16 | 19 | 2 | 1 | 225 | 4 | 298 |
| Year 11 | 87 | 21 | 18 | 1 | 2 | 221 | 15 | 301 |
| Year 12 | 80 | 21 | 22 | 3 | 1 | 233 | 11 | 295 |
| Year 13+ | 64 | 13 | 21 | 6 | 0 | 194 | 5 | 246 |
| Total | 443 | 89 | 96 | 14 | 4 | 1113 | 35 | 1444 |
| Māori | Pacific | Asian | MELAA | Other | European/ Pākehā | International students | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age 13 | 96 | 10 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 194 | 0 | 243 |
| Age 14 | 96 | 19 | 20 | 1 | 1 | 217 | 4 | 296 |
| Age 15 | 96 | 22 | 16 | 2 | 2 | 252 | 3 | 315 |
| Age 16 | 76 | 16 | 19 | 3 | 1 | 218 | 16 | 281 |
| Age 17 | 76 | 17 | 22 | 2 | 0 | 206 | 9 | 268 |
| Age 18 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 26 | 2 | 38 |
| Age 19+ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Total | 443 | 89 | 96 | 14 | 4 | 1113 | 35 | 1444 |
Source: Education Counts, Ministry of Education, CC BY 4.0
Academic results
Percentage with NCEA level 1 or above — 2025
89.1%
| Whanganui High School | 89.1% |
|---|---|
| Manawatū-Whanganui Region | 84.7% |
| Secondary (Year 9-15) | 88% |
| State: Not integrated | 83.6% |
| New Zealand | 85.2% |
Trend and demographic breakdown
| Female | 89.2% |
|---|---|
| Male | 89.1% |
| Māori | 85.4% |
| Pacific | Too few to report |
| Asian | 90.9% |
| MELAA | Too few to report |
| Other | Not applicable |
| European/Pākehā | 90.3% |
| Total | 89.1% |
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
81.9%
| Whanganui High School | 81.9% |
|---|---|
| Manawatū-Whanganui Region | 76.7% |
| Secondary (Year 9-15) | 81% |
| State: Not integrated | 75.4% |
| New Zealand | 77.8% |
Trend and demographic breakdown
| Female | 83.8% |
|---|---|
| Male | 80.5% |
| Māori | 74.2% |
| Pacific | Too few to report |
| Asian | 90.9% |
| MELAA | Too few to report |
| Other | Not applicable |
| European/Pākehā | 83.8% |
| Total | 81.9% |
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
63.5%
| Whanganui High School | 63.5% |
|---|---|
| Manawatū-Whanganui Region | 55.5% |
| Secondary (Year 9-15) | 61.8% |
| State: Not integrated | 55.2% |
| New Zealand | 59% |
Trend and demographic breakdown
| Female | 73.1% |
|---|---|
| Male | 56.3% |
| Māori | 52.8% |
| Pacific | Too few to report |
| Asian | 77.3% |
| MELAA | Too few to report |
| Other | Not applicable |
| European/Pākehā | 65.2% |
| Total | 63.5% |
Source: Education Counts, Ministry of Education, CC BY 4.0 — Table 2: Comparison NCEA level 3 data (2023-2025)
Percentage with VP Award — 2025
13.5%
| Whanganui High School | 13.5% |
|---|---|
| Manawatū-Whanganui Region | 14.5% |
| Secondary (Year 9-15) | 15.2% |
| State: Not integrated | 14.4% |
| New Zealand | 14.1% |
Trend and demographic breakdown
| Female | 16.9% |
|---|---|
| Male | 10.9% |
| Māori | 6.7% |
| Pacific | Too few to report |
| Asian | 9.1% |
| MELAA | Too few to report |
| Other | Not applicable |
| European/Pākehā | 14.2% |
| Total | 13.5% |
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
82.9%
| Whanganui High School | 82.9% |
|---|---|
| Manawatū-Whanganui Region | 81.1% |
| Secondary (Year 9-15) | 83.5% |
| State: Not integrated | 81.4% |
| New Zealand | 83% |
Trend and demographic breakdown
| Female | 85.4% |
|---|---|
| Male | 81% |
| Māori | 79.8% |
| Pacific | Too few to report |
| Asian | 90.9% |
| MELAA | Too few to report |
| Other | Not applicable |
| European/Pākehā | 83.8% |
| Total | 82.9% |
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
57.9%
| Whanganui High School | 57.9% |
|---|---|
| Manawatū-Whanganui Region | 45.5% |
| Secondary (Year 9-15) | 35.8% |
| State | 40.2% |
| New Zealand | 37.1% |
Trend and demographic breakdown
| Female | 50.1% |
|---|---|
| Male | 64.9% |
| Māori | 102.1% |
| Pacific | 70.7% |
| Asian | 13.7% |
| Other | 61.2% |
| European/Pākehā | 46.2% |
| Total | 57.9% |
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
1.8%
| Whanganui High School | 1.8% |
|---|---|
| Manawatū-Whanganui Region | 6.2% |
| Secondary (Year 9-15) | 4% |
| State | 4.5% |
| New Zealand | 4.1% |
Trend and demographic breakdown
| Female | 3% |
|---|---|
| Male | 0.7% |
| Māori | 5.6% |
| Pacific | 0% |
| Asian | 0% |
| Other | 0% |
| European/Pākehā | 2.2% |
| Total | 1.8% |
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
0.4%
| Whanganui High School | 0.4% |
|---|---|
| Manawatū-Whanganui Region | 2.8% |
| Secondary (Year 9-15) | 1.7% |
| State | 1.9% |
| New Zealand | 1.8% |
Trend and demographic breakdown
| Female | 0.9% |
|---|---|
| Male | 0% |
| Māori | 1.4% |
| Pacific | 0% |
| Asian | 0% |
| Other | 0% |
| European/Pākehā | 0.6% |
| Total | 0.4% |
Source: Education Counts, Ministry of Education, CC BY 4.0 — Table 2: Comparison exclusion data (2024)
About the school
- Equity Index (EQI)
- 482
- Boarding
- No
- Language of instruction
- All students taught in English/other setting
- Urban / rural
- Large urban area
- Date opened
- 31 January 1958
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
- 5
- Last reviewed
- 13 December 2023
- Latest report
- Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report
- Report type
- Profile report
- Board assurance
- The board attested to all areas (13 December 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 13 December 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.
What this report states about the school
As stated in ERO’s report of 13 December 2023 — not necessarily the position now. Each line quotes the sentence it came from.
- Also provides
- Alternative Education provision for Whanganui
This school manages the Alternative Education provision for Whanganui
- Alternative Education provision for Whanganui
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 1462 — 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.
September 2019
1315
Counted while ERO’s review team was at the school. Education Review Office, report of 19 December 2019
August 2015
1494
Counted while ERO’s review team was at the school. Education Review Office, report of 3 May 2016
We draw no line between these. Each was counted for its own report, years apart, by a different review team, and a roll moves between reviews for reasons none of these figures record — so the difference between any two of them measures nothing.
What ERO wrote in its latest report
This is ERO’s report of 13 December 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 eight months of the Education Review Office and Whanganui High School 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
Whanganui High School is co-educational, for ākonga from Years 9 to 13. It is located in the mana whenua of Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi in the city of Whanganui .
Whanganui High School ’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:
developing understanding of mātauranga Māori using kawa and tikanga in teaching and learning
to prepare the school community effectively for the NCEA change programme and to ensure the development of future pathways for all students
to promote and respond actively to student and staff hauora and well-being.
You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on Whanganui High School ’s website.
ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how effectively school conditions promote attendance and engagement in learning, for all ākonga .
The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:
to clearly identify those school conditions that work best to support improved attendance and engagement, particularly for identified groups of ākonga
to action schoolwide, those conditions that work best to support improved attendance and engagement.
The school expects to see:
improved attendance, engagement, achievement, and wellbeing as well as effective pathway support for all ākonga , particularly those in identified groups
staff responding to ākonga in shared and well understood ways that reflect the kawa and tikanga of the school
improved partnership and raised expectations from ākonga, whānau , staff and the wider community.
Strengths
The school can draw from the following strengths to support the school in its goal to evaluate how effectively school conditions promote attendance and engagement in learning for all ākonga :
established tracking and monitoring systems that help to identify academic and pastoral needs
a large range of opportunities offered to ākonga to enrich the learning experience to promote engagement.
Where to next?
Moving forward, for equitable and excellent outcomes the school will prioritise:
developing a plan to use a range of information to deeply inquire into what works, and what does not work, to improve the attendance and engagement of all ākonga
further building the capability of staff to collectively respond to ākonga using shared and well understood practices that promote improved attendance and engagement
finding ways to work in partnership with ākonga, whānau , staff and the wider community, to raise the expectations of attendance and engagement in school.
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 their 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
13 December 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
This school manages the Alternative Education provision for Whanganui .
Read the full report on ero.govt.nz →
All 5 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).