Nearly 200 schools 'of concern' or worse - Education Review Office

The Education Review Office says 199 schools need help for the sake of their students.

Its 2026 annual report says students at those schools are at risk without timely intervention.

The schools included 172 regarded as "of concern" and 27 regarded as having "significant concerns".

"A school may be identified as being 'of concern' where evidence shows significant improvement is required in student achievement, attendance, underperformance across core areas, like learner success and wellbeing, leadership and governance, curriculum, and teaching and learning," ERO told RNZ.

"'Serious concern' is the higher threshold, where problems are more severe or persistent, risks to learners are greater, or previous support and intervention have not produced sustained improvement."

The review office told RNZ the proportion of schools of concern or serious concern was eight percent, which was about the same as previous years.

"The proportion of schools identified as being of concern has been fairly stable over time at around 7-9 percent, although individual schools move into and out of the category, as their circumstances and performance change. ERO has strengthened how it identifies and monitors schools requiring improvement.

"The more significant issue is that too many schools remain of concern for too long and do not achieve sustained improvement, despite receiving support."

ERO's annual report said the schools were concentrated in the upper half of the North Island.

"While these schools remain a small proportion of the overall system, the distribution of concern is not even across the country," the reports aid. "The highest numbers of these schools were located in Tai Tokerau, Waikato, Bay of Plenty/Waiariki, Tāmaki Herenga Waka and Hawke's Bay/Tairāwhiti.

"Schools identified as having significant concerns were more commonly secondary schools, which accounted for approximately two-thirds of all cases in this category. This suggests that, while concerns arise across all parts of the system, challenges in secondary settings are often more complex, and may require more intensive monitoring and intervention."

The annual report said the office reviewed 628 schools and 542 early childhood services this year. It found eight percent of the schools required improvement, half of them in "learner success and wellbeing".

Just one percent were told their teaching needed improvement.

"Around four in five schools reviewed this year are embedding or excelling in leadership (80 percent), teaching and learning (79 percent), and curriculum (81 percent), compared with 67 percent of schools in learner success and wellbeing," the report said.

"This suggests that, while schools are increasingly strengthening the conditions that support improvement, it may take longer for these efforts to be reflected in learner outcomes."

The early childhood education reviews found that one percent of English-medium services required improvement, as did seven percent of Māori-medium services.

The report said four percent of the English-medium schools ERO visited in the past year were already meeting the government's 2030 goal of 80 percent of students attending regularly, but 51 percent were behind or significantly behind the target.

Regular attendance was defined as attending more than 90 percent of the time.

The office found 17 percent of the schools it visited were already meeting the government's 2030 target of ensuring 80 percent of Year 8 students were achieving at or above their expected curriculum level for reading, writing and maths.

A further 69 percent were making progress toward the goal and 14 percent were not making sufficient progress.

The review office said the percentages were based on achievement of all students in the reviewed schools, not just their Year 8 students.