Last updated October 2026
Queen Elizabeth College is a state, co-educational secondary school for Years 7 to 13 at Rangitikei Street, Palmerston North. It opened in 1906 and had 407 students on its roll at 1 September 2026.
Its home zone includes 5 suburbs in full and parts of 10 more, among them Kairanga, Cloverlea, Westbrook, Palmerston North Central and Newbury; the zone map below shows the full boundary.
The school’s site describes Reo Rua, a bilingual unit taught mainly at Te Matui, the school marae, with kapa haka and Ngā Manu Kōrero as part of learning, and a Service Academy that runs military-style training and New Zealand Defence Force courses towards NCEA. It also runs a Year 7 and 8 programme focused on literacy and numeracy with specialist teachers, and takes international students.
At a glance
- Principal
- Chris Moller
- Address
- Rangitikei Street, Palmerston North
- Phone
- 06 358 9033
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.
This school New Zealand
School leavers are students who left school that year, whatever year level they left from.
Who goes here
Share of the 407 students who identify with each group. Students can name more than one, so these add up to more than 100%.
7 international students
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.
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 June 2024. This kind of report sets out what ERO and the school will evaluate together, here the effect of targeted attendance initiatives on achievement.
The school chose this focus because of inconsistent attendance and low achievement across all levels, often linked to attendance, and a need for more whānau support. ERO noted a comprehensive, collaborative pastoral network, existing attendance work including a targeted Year 10 programme, and Te Whare Pikiora, a centre that responds to students’ health and wellbeing.
Next, the school plans to review its curriculum so it is more responsive and student-centred, change teaching practice to lift engagement and achievement, and help students see the purpose of their learning and future pathways.
Read the ERO reports for Queen Elizabeth College
Enrolling
Students who live in the home zone have the right to enrol. Out-of-zone places are offered under the school’s enrolment scheme, by ballot when there are more applicants than places.
The school has separate home zone boundaries for Years 7 and 8 and for Year 9 upwards. Families apply with the online enrolment form, and the school advertises its out-of-zone places and ballot dates on its enrolment page each year.
Schools nearby
In Palmerston North Central
Queen Elizabeth College is in Palmerston North Central. Our suburb guide covers what it is like to live there, with parks, places and local businesses.
Read our Palmerston North Central guide →Questions parents ask
Is Queen Elizabeth College zoned?
No. It has no home zone, so any student can apply to enrol.
What years does it teach?
Years 7 to 13.
How many students go there?
407 at 1 Sep 2026.
Does it ask for donations?
No. It is in the donation scheme, so it only asks for donations for school camps.
What is its Equity Index?
556. 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.
How did its school leavers do in NCEA?
In 2025, 62.3% of its school leavers had NCEA Level 2 or above, compared with 77.8% of all New Zealand school leavers.
School details and roll: Ministry of Education school directory, 24 Oct 2026 (CC BY 4.0). Home zone: Ministry of Education enrolment zones (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). Updated automatically when the Ministry publishes new data.
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