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Wakatipu High School, Frankton (Queenstown)

Secondary · Years 9–15 · Co-Educational · Frankton, Queenstown

A state secondary school located in Queenstown, serving students from Years 9 to 13. It accepts both domestic and international students, with te reo Māori and tikanga available as NCEA subjects at all year levels.

Last checked 18 September 2026 · Roll data from August 2026

Jump to: About · Curriculum · Extracurricular · Student support

At a glance

TypeSecondary · Years 9–15
LocationQueenstown
RegionOtago Region
School number374
1,555
Students
as at August 2026
416
Equity Index
No
Enrolment scheme
Open
School status

Key facts

  • School number374
  • School typeSecondary · Years 9–15
  • AuthorityState
  • GenderCo-Educational
  • BoardingNo
  • Language of instructionEnglish medium / other settings
  • Established4 February 1975
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About Wakatipu High School

Wakatipu High School is a state secondary school located at 47–49 Red Oaks Drive, Frankton, Queenstown. It has a roll of approximately 1,550 students and is led by Principal Oded Nathan.

The school is co-governed by a Board of Trustees and receives financial support from the WHS Foundation and Branches Trust. It is not faith-based or Māori-medium.

The school's stated values are excellence, responsibility, resilience, inclusion and respect. These underpin its Ākonga Profile, a framework describing the school's goals for student development, which encompasses academic qualifications, essential competencies, and broader personal development.

Alongside NCEA pathways, the school offers vocational programmes including a Trades Academy, Gateway, and Central Otago Youth Employment programme, as well as learning support in literacy and numeracy and a Gifted Education programme.

The school's pastoral system is organised around five houses — Arthur, Duncan, Fox, Hay and Mackenzie — which also form the basis of inter-house competition.

The school's location in the Wakatipu Basin informs a programme of outdoor education. Co-curricular activities include a Winter Sports Academy, rowing, jazz band, school musical, Kapa Haka group, and the Duke of Edinburgh programme.

Enrolment

No enrolment scheme listed

No enrolment scheme is currently listed for Wakatipu High School in the available Ministry of Education data. Check the current Ministry of Education information or contact the school for the latest enrolment arrangements.

School donations

The Ministry of Education profile states that: "Donations may be requested".

With an Equity Index of 416, Wakatipu High School is below the 432 threshold newly required to opt into the donations scheme, though a school already receiving this funding from an earlier year may continue to do so. Outside the scheme, a school can still ask families for donations, but cannot compel or enforce payment.

Check directly with the school for current charges, contributions or other costs. Learn more on the donations scheme or fees and charges at school, both on education.govt.nz.

Equity Index

The Ministry publishes this figure as a bare number — KuraData shows it against the directory-wide average, so you can see where Wakatipu High School actually sits, not just the number on its own.

OFFICIAL DATA
416
Scale: 344–569
Band: Few (2026)
WHAT IT MEANS

The Equity Index estimates the socio-economic barriers students face, on average, and is used to inform government funding and support. It is not a measure of school quality or academic performance.

Higher values indicate a higher level of estimated socio-economic barriers; lower values indicate fewer. Learn how the Equity Index is calculated →

EQI scale (344–569)
Directory avg 444.2
Wakatipu High School 416

Student ethnicity

The Ministry publishes this as a raw table — here it's visualised directly against Wakatipu High School's own roll, so the shape of it is clear at a glance.

  • European — 1,213 students (78%)
  • Asian — 273 students (17.6%)
  • Pacific — 72 students (4.6%)
  • Māori — 153 students (9.8%)
  • MELAA — 112 students (7.2%)
  • Other — 6 students (0.4%)
  • International — 32 students (2.1%)

Percentages may sum to more than 100% because students can identify with more than one ethnic group.

Location

View larger map on OpenStreetMap
  • Street address47-49 Red Oaks Drive
  • SuburbFrankton
  • CityQueenstown
  • Local authorityQueenstown-Lakes District

Official contact details

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Contact details combine official Ministry of Education records with information published on Wakatipu High School's own website, reviewed by the KuraData team on 18 September 2026.

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Curriculum

Wakatipu High School covers Years 9 to 13 and delivers the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) across three levels, typically completed in Years 11–13. International students attending for longer than six months are required to enrol in NCEA and complete internal assessments regardless of whether they sit external exams.

Junior students (Years 9–10) select 12 courses per year, split evenly across two semesters. Senior students (Years 11–13) select up to six full-year courses, with classes totalling 7.5 hours over a two-week timetable cycle in a mix of 60-minute and 90-minute periods. The timetable also includes Ako Time — regular morning sessions with a Kaiārahi (learning advisor) for academic guidance and study tracking.

The school's digital course guide lists the full range of subjects available at each year level. Outdoor Education is available as a subject for senior students; Year 12 and 13 students can gain NCEA credits through activities including kayaking, tramping, bushcraft, mountain expeditions, snow caving, and safety management. Students must be at least 16 to select Year 12 Outdoor Education and 17 for Year 13.

Co-curricular Activities

Wakatipu High School offers co-curricular activities across sports, arts, and academic clubs. Students compete in Central Otago, Southland, and Otago Secondary School Sport competitions, as well as South Island and New Zealand tournaments, with some sports run in partnership with local clubs in the Wakatipu Basin.

The following named activities and groups are identified in the school's extracurricular activities pages:

  • Jazz bands — described as award-winning
  • Pop music bands — described as award-winning
  • Individual instrument tuition
  • Annual major musical and dramatic production
  • Duke of Edinburgh Award programme

Student Support and Pastoral Care

Wakatipu High School provides several named student support services covering counselling, health, and peer-led initiatives.

  • Guidance Counsellors — Three counsellors (Vicki Patton, Kat Denniston, and Lucy Ford) are available to students. Areas they work with include stress, anxiety, depression, bullying, grief, relationships, sexuality, trauma, substance use, and issues at home. Students can access a counsellor by visiting Student Services, submitting a referral form, or emailing guidance@wakatipu.school.nz.
  • Public Health Nurses — Registered health nurses visit the school on a weekly basis, attending during ako times on Mondays and Fridays. They offer confidential, free health advice, assessments, and referrals across areas including medical conditions, physical and mental health, sexual health, substance use, contraception, and gender diversity.
  • Students Against Sexual Harm (SASH) — A student-led group that raises awareness about sexual harm and consent, provides information about support options, and links students to relevant services inside and outside school. SASH members are not trained counsellors; if a student discloses an incident, the member is required to seek advice from a WHS guidance counsellor.
  • Wellbeing Student Council — A student group that worked with the school to develop the WHS wellbeing model and supports school-wide wellbeing initiatives, including events such as Mental Health Awareness Week and Pink Shirt Day.

Frequently asked

These aren't generic answers — each one is built directly from Wakatipu High School's own official Ministry of Education data already shown on this page, so what you read here always matches the figures above.

Wakatipu High School is classified as a Secondary (Year 9-15) school serving Years 9–15.

It's a state school in the Otago region. New Zealand domestic students are generally entitled to free enrolment and education at state schools.

Yes. It's a co-educational school, enrolling both boys and girls.

No enrolment scheme is currently listed for Wakatipu High School in the available Ministry of Education data. Check the current Ministry of Education information or contact the school for the latest enrolment arrangements.

1,555 students, according to the August 2026 roll data.

It reflects the estimated socio-economic barriers Wakatipu High School's students face, on average. The Ministry uses the Equity Index to help target funding and support. It is not a measure of school quality or academic performance.

Sources & methodology

Every fact on this page traces back to one of the rows below — official Ministry of Education data, or Wakatipu High School's own published information, reviewed before publication. Nothing here is inferred or estimated beyond what its source actually states.

DataSourceData periodLast checked
School characteristics Ministry of Education — 7 September 2026
Student roll Ministry of Education / Education Counts August 2026 7 September 2026
Equity Index Education Counts — 7 September 2026
Address & coordinates Ministry of Education — 7 September 2026
Contact details NZ Schools Directory Current 7 September 2026
School information (AI-curated, human-reviewed) Wakatipu High School's official website Current 18 September 2026