How to see a school’s zone

If you live inside the zone for a school, you’re guaranteed a place there. Some schools do not have zones, so you can enrol there no matter where you live.

You can use the ‘Find a school’ tool to search for schools either by your address, the school name, or you can look up all schools in a certain area.

Find a school— Education Counts

Apply to a school outside your zone

You can apply to go to a school that’s outside your zone, but you might not get in.

Enrolment Schemes (school zones) — Ministry of Education

School reviews

The Education Review Office evaluates and reports on the education and care of learners in schools, kura, kohanga reo, puna reo, and early childhood services.

Find review reports — Education Review Office

Equity Index

From 2023, the Equity Index (EQI) replaced the Decile system to determine the amount of equity funding a school gets.

The EQI is not a measure of school quality — it’s a way to understand the relationship between social and economic factors and student achievement.

The Equity Index — Ministry of Education

How it works

Each school is given an equity rating from 344 to 569. The Stats NZ Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI) is used to work out a school’s Equity Index number.

How the Equity Index works — Ministry of Education

Equity funding based on the EQI

The EQI determines how much equity funding the school receives in addition to their regular funding — the higher the EQI, the more funding the school receives per student.

How the Equity Index applies to funding — Ministry of Education