Last updated October 2026
Rotorua Lakes High School is a state, co-educational secondary school for Years 9 to 13 at Porikapa Road, Te Ngae, Rotorua. It opened in 1971 and had 621 students on its roll at 1 September 2026.
Its home zone includes 17 suburbs in full and parts of 7 more, among them Tumunui, Victoria, Kapenga, Whakarewarewa, Lake Ōkataina and Lake Ōkāreka; the zone map below shows the full boundary.
The school takes applications for a rumaki (te reo Māori immersion) class and an academic extension class, and runs several school bus routes. International students get language support and can join outdoor activities such as tramping, mountain biking and waka ama.
At a glance
- Principal
- Gwyneth Cooper
- Address
- Porikapa Road, Te Ngae, Rotorua
- Phone
- 07 345 6124
Home zone
Suburbs in the zone: all of Lake Tarawera, Lake Ōkāreka, Fenton Park Rotorua, Glenholme Rotorua, Lynmore Rotorua, Lake Ōkataina, Kapenga, Whakarewarewa, Tikitere Rotorua, Holdens Bay Rotorua, Hannahs Bay Rotorua, Ōwhata Rotorua, Mourea Rotorua, Ngapuna Rotorua, Horohoro, Tumunui and Victoria.
Parts of Okere Falls Rotorua, Lake Rotomā Rotorua, Ngakuru Rotorua, Waikite Valley, Tihiotonga Rotorua, Hillcrest Rotorua and Springfield Rotorua: check your street.
Zone boundaries are set by the school’s enrolment scheme and can change. Confirm your address with the school before you rely on it.
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 621 students who identify with each group. Students can name more than one, so these add up to more than 100%.
2 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 School Profile Report from December 2023, which sets out the school’s improvement focus. ERO and the school are evaluating how well student engagement initiatives improve outcomes, including keeping students at school and helping them into further pathways.
ERO listed strengths including strong community partnerships, among them mana whenua, sound review of teaching programmes, professional learning in restorative practice, varied teaching approaches for individual needs, and high expectations for achievement, engagement and attendance.
The school’s priorities are to review its senior engagement programme, check how teaching strategies in the junior school affect progress and achievement, and look at how restorative and relational practice is working across the school.
Read the ERO reports for Rotorua Lakes High School
Enrolling
Students who live in the home zone have the right to enrol. Any out-of-zone places are offered under the school’s enrolment scheme, by ballot when there are more applicants than places.
Families can apply online or on a paper form. The enrolment page also carries the school’s enrolment scheme with its zone description, and separate application forms for the rumaki class and the academic extension class.
Schools nearby
In Ōwhata Rotorua
Rotorua Lakes High School is in Ōwhata Rotorua. Our suburb guide covers what it is like to live there, with parks, places and local businesses.
Read our Ōwhata Rotorua guide →Questions parents ask
Is Rotorua Lakes High School zoned?
It has a home zone covering all of Lake Tarawera, Lake Ōkāreka, Fenton Park Rotorua, Glenholme Rotorua, Lynmore Rotorua, Lake Ōkataina, Kapenga, Whakarewarewa, Tikitere Rotorua, Holdens Bay Rotorua, Hannahs Bay Rotorua, Ōwhata Rotorua, Mourea Rotorua, Ngapuna Rotorua, Horohoro, Tumunui and Victoria and parts of Okere Falls Rotorua, Lake Rotomā Rotorua, Ngakuru Rotorua, Waikite Valley, Tihiotonga Rotorua, Hillcrest Rotorua and Springfield Rotorua.
What years does it teach?
Years 9 to 13.
How many students go there?
621 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?
473. 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, 68.7% 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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