Last updated October 2026
Cullinane College is a state-integrated, co-educational secondary school for Years 9 to 13 at 15 Peat Street, Whanganui. It opened in 1944 and had 492 students on its roll at 1 September 2026.
It has no home zone, so any student can apply. Its site describes a Catholic school with links to the Sisters of St Joseph and the Marist Fathers, a house system and pastoral care, teaching most New Zealand school subjects through to NCEA.
Students can take part in sport, arts and culture including kapa haka, and clubs such as chess, choir, debating and robotics, and international students join regular classes with a daily ESOL lesson and stay with homestay families.
At a glance
- Principal
- Tony McBride
- Address
- 15 Peat Street, Whanganui
- Phone
- 06-349 0105
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 492 students who identify with each group. Students can name more than one, so these add up to more than 100%.
9 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.
Suspensions: fewer than 5 cases in 2025, so no rate is shown.
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 Evaluation Report from May 2026. ERO found that a revised approach to behaviour and wellbeing, called CC4L (Cullinane Culture for Life), gives teachers one consistent way of working and has led to calmer, more settled classrooms.
Most students gain NCEA at Levels 1, 2 and 3, with similar results across groups, although fewer than half gain University Entrance. ERO also noted that leaders share responsibility well, teachers know their students and keep classrooms inclusive, students have a broad range of learning opportunities, and the move into the school and on to later pathways is well supported.
ERO’s priorities for the school are making better use of assessment and wellbeing information to track progress and target support, a schoolwide focus on literacy and mathematics starting in Years 9 and 10, and higher attendance.
Regular attendance is below the government target, though it is improving and chronic absence is falling, and leaders are expected to put the board’s attendance plan fully in place.
Read the ERO reports for Cullinane College
Enrolling
As a state-integrated Catholic school, Cullinane College enrols preference students first. These are families with a religious connection to the school’s Catholic special character, shown by a preference certificate signed by an authorised agent of the Catholic Bishop.
Only a small share of places is kept for non-preference students, and compulsory attendance dues set by the proprietor apply, and families who cannot pay them are given advice on getting assistance.
The school calls for applications each year and advertises them in local papers and Catholic school and parish newsletters. When there are more applicants than places in a priority group, a ballot decides the order. The school’s enrolment policy is published on its website.
Schools nearby
In Whanganui Central
Cullinane College is in Whanganui Central. Our suburb guide covers what it is like to live there, with parks, places and local businesses.
Questions parents ask
Is Cullinane College zoned?
No. It has no home zone, so any student can apply to enrol.
What years does it teach?
Years 9 to 13.
How many students go there?
492 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?
497. 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, 87.5% 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, 22 Oct 2026 (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.
Spotted something incorrect on this page? Let us know.