Auckland Grammar and Epsom Girls' Grammar have so far received 1200 out of zone Year 9 applications for 2025 between them but been only able to accept a fraction. Illustration / Paul Slater
As Auckland’s population continues to grow, so are the city’s schools – many of them are running out of space.
Analysis by the Herald has found that while the school-aged population has only risen by 18% since 2000, Mt Albert Grammar’s student numbers have jumped 149%.
Space running out also prompts tough questions for schools about what they do with out-of-zone enrolments.
Auckland is home to a third of the country’s students, so about 300,000 pupils flock into Auckland region schools daily - 78,000 – or 35% – more students than 25 years ago.
Herald reporter Ben Leahy told The Front Page the numbers are significant.
“In the past year, we had record immigration, so a big jump happened.
“Then because public schools have to accept students within their zone, some schools cover areas where there’s been a lot more housing development and when that happens inside your zone you can see a big spike in the number of students coming to your school,” he said.
There has also been an increase in people choosing to enrol their kids in private schools, Leahy said.
“But it should be mentioned that the vast majority of students in Auckland go to public schools. We’ve got about 249,000 students enrolled in public schools, about 31,000 in Catholic and integrated schools, and about 20,000 in private schools.
“Regardless, we have seen an increase in private schools. There’s been about an 84% growth in private schools versus around 30% growth in students enrolling in public schools.”
Leahy spoke to Mt Albert Grammar principal Patrick Drumm, who said he is drastically rethinking how his school will cope in future.
“How big do you go? How big is too big? We’re really going into unknown territory,” he told the Herald.
The school recently opened a new $30 million, 22-classroom building for 600 students.
Drumm pointed out that while building a 600-student classroom block at an existing school might cost $30m, it could cost about $250m to build a new school from scratch for 600 students with all the facilities they would need.
That means existing schools would probably keep getting bigger as governments expanded them in preference to building new schools.
Then, it’s a question of space on rolls. Leahy revealed in a Herald survey Auckland Grammar and Epsom Girls’ Grammar alone have received 1200 applications from out-of-zone students hoping to study Year 9 at the schools next year.
“They’ll typically accept students who already have another sibling in that school first, or maybe a parent went to that school. They work through a list of priorities and then once they get through those, they have an open ballot for anyone who wants to try and apply.
“In a lot of cases this year, they’re not even getting to the open ballot. And in the case of Mount Albert Grammar, they’re under such strain with student numbers that they’re not expecting to open up to out-of-zone students next year,” Leahy said.
Listen to the full episode to hear more about the strain on Auckland’s schools and their ballooning rolls.
The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am. The podcast is presented by Chelsea Daniels, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in world news and crime/justice reporting who joined NZME in 2016.
You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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