Top 50

New Zealand
Schools 2023
For Gaining Entry to Top Universities
 Foreword

Jamie Beaton
Co-Founder and CEO,
Crimson Education

As New Zealand reflects on the degradation A world-class education today involves more
of Mathematics and English achievement in than just academic success in the classroom
our school system, there has never been a and in fact admission to elite universities like
more important time for a sobering, Harvard necessitates this breadth of student
independent assessment of our high schools. experience.
This ranking is designed to help ambitious
local parents and students and international These rankings, now in their fifth year,
families considering the move to New provide a clear measure of the Top 50 schools
Zealand navigate the different offerings in New Zealand based on their ability to
available in Aotearoa. Education is the most prepare students to gain admission to top-
powerful long term driver of New Zealand’s ranked global universities. Given the broad
productivity, GDP growth and global entry standards of domestic universities, a
competitiveness and we need to make sure pure consideration of university entrance
the best schools get recognized for their rates alone does not do enough to capture
powerful contributions. the granularity of academic performance
necessary for the best higher education
To compensate for some weaknesses in institutions.
NCEA, many students are now pursuing
global curriculum options like the Globally competitive students pursue a “T”
International Baccalaureate (IB) or A levels. approach to learning – showing breadth of
Two schools have notably dropped NCEA interest across academics, leadership and
Level 1 this year after reaching the conclusion extracurricular work while applying depth to
that it wasn’t sufficiently rigorous. master a specific area of competency, often
International curriculums like A Levels allow with personalised mentoring from teachers.
students to pursue subjects with a standard Consider a student passionate in robotics:
that is globally recognized by top universities. this student may seek to secure a medal
The best and brightest Kiwi students are also within the International Young Physics
sharpening their extracurricular skills by Olympiad, compete in VEX Robotics, achieve
participating in popular activities like global top grades in physics and, in their spare time,
online debating or business case intern with a high-growth technology
competitions. They are also actively involved company.
in developing their own apps, undertaking
leadership projects, and participating in
virtual internships.
The breadth of requirements demanded by Private schools continue to dominate the top
top universities begs the question, what 10 and of the single-sex schools, we see three
holistic factors should be taken into account of these are girls’ schools and the remaining
by parents, when reviewing high schools for seven are co-educational. Of the Top 10
their children? As an authority on student schools, 8 of these provide international
pathways to top-ranked universities, Crimson curricula options: the IB or CIE. Schools that
once again brings its deep knowledge of provide international curriculum fared well,
student success from all backgrounds to this making up the Top 7 of the list and
release. We also bring extensive knowledge in collectively, the IB curriculum schools within
NCEA, CIE and IB as well as our perspective as the Top 10 secured a total of 82 IB scores of
the most successful global university 40+ between them – almost double last year's
admissions organisation supporting students total.
on their pathway into top global universities
like the University of Oxford, Stanford, Yale Some other schools that deserve praise
and competitive domestic programs like include Baradene College of the Sacred Heart,
Medicine. Lindisfarne College, Woodfarne and
Rangitoto College. All of these schools have
While no one ranking system captures seen impressive improvements in their
everything, we have continued to apply our ranking. Baradene College of the Sacred
carefully designed methodology in Heart moved from 16th to 8th place,
consideration of the characteristics that world achieving 50 scholarship awards and a 53%
leading universities like Yale and Cambridge NCEA Excellence rate - tied for highest in the
continue to seek out among their accepted country. Rangitoto College continues to
students. By sticking to the same improve as they have jumped from 23rd to
methodology for a five year period, we also 10th to 6th place over the past 3 years, with 5
capture valuable data on shifts in relative IB scores of 40+ as well as 244 NCEA
school performance over time. scholarships and 34 outstanding scholarships
– all improvements from last year.
Above all, we aim to provide parents and
students with transparency and clear Our list combines more than 200 years of
guidance when making high stakes decisions education experience across Crimson’s
about which high school is right for their consulting team, academic team, data
long-term plans and aspirations. Through science capabilities and is based on a rigorous
these rankings, school administrators also data-collection practice. We hope it helps
have access to an independent barometer ignite discussion around how we are
that measures how their student cohort is preparing our incredibly talented young
performing across the factors that are most people to achieve their best.
important when preparing students to apply
to the world’s top universities. To transformative education and global
ambition!
Looking to the top of the list, ACG Parnell
claims first place after a Top 5 placing last
year. They have displayed very strong NCEA
and CIE programs with a 45% NCEA
excellence rate and 6 CIE awards. University
entrance was secured by 97% of students. The
school continues the trend of co-education Jamie Beaton
schools emerging as the majority to make up Co-Founder and CEO,
the Top 10 this year. Crimson Education
About the Rankings

This year brings the fifth consecutive release of the Top 50 New Zealand Schools For
Gaining Entry to Top Universities by Crimson Education — a world-leading university
admissions and mentoring company.

To create this list, physical schools across New Zealand were evaluated on the basis
of academic performance, extracurricular opportunities and equal access for
students — three factors which contribute to students’ chances of gaining admission
to and thriving at top universities around the world.

The list draws on experience working with a global pool of top-performing students
through Crimson Education’s university admissions service which helps students
secure admission to the world’s most competitive universities year after year,
including: Yale, Stanford, UChicago, Duke, Oxford, and Cambridge.
 NZ School Rankings Methodology
In order to review school performance with consistency, 2021 data alone was used,
given there was an insufficient amount of 2022 data released at the time of the lists’
creation. This follows the methodology used for Crimson’s Top 50 New Zealand
Schools Rankings in 2022, which used solely 2020 data.

Data was sourced from a survey and from publicly available information on school
websites. NZQA data was referenced for verification.

The 3 indicators that determine Crimson’s Top 50 New Zealand Schools 2023 and
their weightings are indicated below.

70% 15%
Academics Diversity, Equity & Process
CIE alongside IB, NCEA, NZQA This examined the process of
results and University Entrance enrolling into school and
rates which are all weighted processes within the school to
equally. Information accessed for drive good outcomes. Diversity in
the 2020 rankings included the ethnicity was also considered,
number of awards made publicly based on our belief that students
available, i.e. via websites as well should learn within a diverse
as government reports. setting, which equips them to
thrive on global campuses.

15%
Extracurricular & Leadership
This indicates whether students are being prepared for university achievement post-graduation. Options
like sports, performing arts and co-curricular activities as well as college admissions results were weighted
equally. Ivy League and other top US university admissions results were considered because US
universities take extracurricular activities into account when admitting students.
School Rankings 2023
01 ACG Parnell College (4) 26 Christ's College (12)

02 St Cuthbert's College (2) 27 Scots College (24)

03 Kristin School (1) 28 Westlake Girls' High School (23)

04 Pinehurst School (3) 29 Waikato Diocesan School For Girls (27)

05 Diocesan School For Girls (5) 30 St Peter's School Cambridge (44)

06 Rangitoto College (10) 31 Glendowie College (20)

07 St Kentigern College (6) 32 Selwyn College (47)

08 Baradene College of the Sacred Heart (16) 33 Long Bay College (45)

09 Woodford House (11) 34 Wellington Girls' College (33)

10 Macleans College (7) 35 St Paul's Collegiate School (34)

11 Lindisfarne College (28) 36 Wellington College (31)

12 Queen Margaret College (9) 37 Marist College (41)

13 Rangi Ruru Girls' School (15) 38 Takapuna Grammar School (43)

14 Auckland Grammar School (18) 39 Iona College (46)

15 Westlake Boys' High School (8) 40 Mount Albert Grammar School (36)

16 St Peter's College Auckland (13) 41 Hutt International Boys' School (26)

17 St Margaret's College (25) 42 Western Springs College (40)

18 St Andrew's College (21) 43 Botany Downs Secondary College

19 Epsom Girls' Grammar School (30) 44 Napier Girls' High School (39)

20 Samuel Marsden Collegiate School (14) 45 Hamilton Boys' High School (49)

21 Carmel College (17) 46 Rosmini College (38)

22 King's College (19) 47 Dilworth School (35)

23 St Mary's College Auckland (22) 48 ACG Sunderland

24 Sancta Maria College (48) 49 Columba College (32)

25 Sacred Heart College Auckland (29) 50 King's High School

*Numbers in the parentheses () represent the 2022 ranking of each school.

Schools without numbers in parentheses did not feature in the list last year.
Trends – School 3 of 2023’s Top 10 schools are single-
sex girls’ schools with the others being
Rankings 2023 co-educational.

Selwyn College and Dilworth School

In the 2023 ranking of the Top 10, there are Decile 4 schools and feature in this
are six private schools, two state and year’s Top 50 list.
two state Integrated Schools. This is
Out of the top 10, Macleans College
the first year ever that there were this
ranked 1st for Extracurriculars and
many state schools in the ranking (4).
Leadership.

The average in the Top 10 for UE% has Out of the Top 10, Rangitoto College
increased compared to 2022. In 2023 it ranked 1st for Diversity, Equity and
is 96.7% and in 2022 it is 93.3% Process.

Woodford House is the only top 10

All the Top 25 ranked schools are
school not located in Auckland.
between Deciles 8-10.

Additions To The
List
We saw 3 additions to this year’s list,
including Botany Downs Secondary
College #43, ACG Sunderland #48 and
King's High School #50
 Schools That Improved In The Rankings

+ ACG Parnell College moved from 4th + Woodford House being a state-
to 1st. They achieved an impressive integrated school, performed really
45% NCEA excellence rate as well as 6 well, and they went from 11th to 9th
Top in World and 7 Top in New place. Back in the Top 10. UE went up
Zealand CIE awards. from 97% to 100%. The scholarship
went up from 20 with zero
+ Rangitoto College went from 23rd outstanding to 22 with 3 outstanding.
(2021) to 10th (2022) to 6th place
(2023). They also earned 47% NCEA + Selwyn College saw a strong jump in
Excellence compared to 34% last year. the rankings from 47th to 32nd. This
They also had 3 more IB 40+ students makes them the highest-ranking
than 2022 with 5 total. decile 4 school and the only school
under decile 7 in the Top 40.
+ Baradene College of the Sacred Heart
went up from 20th to 8th. Despite
+ Epsom Girls Grammar went from 30th
Excellence dropping they went from
to 19th. They had 71 scholarships with
29 scholarships to 50 with 6 of those
9 being outstanding scholarships.
being outstanding scholarships.

+ Lindisfarne College went from 28th to + Sancta Maria College went from 48th
11th. They have 36 scholarships with 4 to 24th. They earned a 46% NCEA
being outstanding scholarships. excellence rate.
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