Nearly 200 New Zealand schools of 'concern' or worse, ERO annual report says

The Education Review Office's 2026 annual report identifies 172 schools regarded as "of concern" and 27 regarded as having "significant concerns". ERO told RNZ that students at those schools are at risk without timely intervention.

ERO said 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.” It said “'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 proportion of schools in these categories was eight percent, which ERO told RNZ 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 report noted the schools were concentrated in the upper half of the North Island, with the highest numbers in Tai Tokerau, Waikato, Bay of Plenty/Waiariki, Tāmaki Herenga Waka and Hawke's Bay/Tairāwhiti.

ERO's annual report stated that secondary schools accounted for approximately two-thirds of the cases in the "significant concerns" 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 report said.

This year, the office reviewed 628 schools and 542 early childhood services. It found eight percent of schools required improvement, half of them in "learner success and wellbeing". Just one percent were told their teaching needed improvement.

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

On attendance, 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 (defined as more than 90 percent of the time), but 51 percent were behind or significantly behind the target.

For curriculum achievement, 17 percent of schools visited were already meeting the government's 2030 target of 80 percent of Year 8 students achieving at or above their expected curriculum level in 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.