Education Options

Nearly 50 schools are located within the Rotorua region, with all levels of education available to students


There is no shortage of excellent educational institutes and programmes for your family to choose from in Rotorua, whether you need day care for your infant or tertiary options for your young adults or yourself.

Both private and state-integrated schools are available and include New Zealand’s top-performing Catholic school, John Paul College.

Additionally, one of the Bay of Plenty’s largest tertiary providers, Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology, has one of its two main campuses here in Rotorua.

New Zealand’s education system has three levels:

  • Early childhood education – from birth to primary school entry age

  • Primary and secondary education – from 5 to 19 years of age

  • Further education – tertiary and vocational education

 

Early childhood education

Early childhood education (ECE) centres are dotted throughout Rotorua, including kōhanga reo (preschools that use the Māori language to educate their learners).

 

Primary and secondary schools

Primary schools teach years 1 through 8, and secondary schools cover years 9 through 13.

 

Kura kaupapa Māori (Māori immersion schools) used te reo Māori (the Māori language) to educate their learners.

  

Tertiary institutes

Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology teaches more than 13,000 domestic and international students across the Bay of Plenty at more than 80 delivery sites. One of its main campuses is located here in Rotorua and offers more than 200 study options from six-month vocational certificates to three-year bachelor’s degrees, up to master’s degrees.
 

Education for international students

No matter where you choose to study in New Zealand, our schools deliver consistently high-quality education due to government regulations that include a Code of Practice and a national curriculum.

Rotorua offers a number of additional benefits to support students’ learning experiences. Find out more about studying in Rotorua by downloading our brochure in your language:

English
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
Japanese
Korean
Vietnamese
Thai
Spanish


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