Good to know
Good to Know
- Wellington's fee-paying schools with internationally portable curricula are almost all long-established, single-sex or co-ed, faith-affiliated day/boarding schools (e.g. Presbyterian, Anglican) rather than purpose-built 'international schools' — the IB Diploma is the main globally-recognised qualification on offer alongside NZ's own NCEA.
- Boarding fees are billed separately from and on top of day tuition at both Queen Margaret College and Scots College.
- Public (state) schools in Wellington are free for NZ citizens and residents, but charge separate international-student tuition for visa-holding families — that option isn't covered in this list, which focuses only on named private international/bilingual schools.
- Fees typically exclude extras like uniforms, camps, technology levies and enrolment/application fees, which can add a meaningful amount on top of quoted tuition.
- For Wellington's private/IB day schools (Scots College, Queen Margaret College, Samuel Marsden), apply as early as possible — 6-12 months ahead is realistic given schools describe places as limited each intake.
- If you're aiming for a Wellington state secondary school and don't live in its zone, budget for the possibility of an out-of-zone ballot rather than assuming a guaranteed place — check the specific school's published ballot dates well ahead of the school year.
- You cannot rent short-term inside a school zone just to secure a place; New Zealand's Ministry of Education can annul enrolments obtained this way.
- New Zealand's school year runs late January to mid-December in four terms, so plan international moves and applications around that calendar rather than a Northern Hemisphere September start.
- Homeschooling is straightforward and well-supported in New Zealand: it's free to apply, takes about 4-6 weeks for a decision, and approved families receive a modest government supervision allowance — but there's no confirmed dedicated Wellington-only homeschool co-op, so start with the national NCHENZ body or your regional Ministry of Education office.
Schools And Curricula
- Overview
- Wellington has a much smaller roster of fee-paying international-curriculum schools than Auckland. There is no large-scale 'international school' sector here in the Gulf/Asia sense; instead, the internationally-recognised curriculum (IB) is delivered inside a handful of established single-sex or co-ed private day/boarding schools, alongside New Zealand's own NCEA qualification, often as a dual pathway.
- General Fee Context
- Yearly tuition fees for private/international-curriculum schools in Wellington generally range from roughly NZD 10,000 to 20,000 per year, with some top-tier programmes (particularly IB Diploma years and boarding) exceeding NZD 25,000 annually.
Schools
Queen Margaret College (QMC)
- Type
- Independent Presbyterian day and boarding school for girls, ages 3–18
- Location
- Thorndon, central Wellington
- Curricula
- IB World School offering the Primary Years Programme, Middle Years Programme and Diploma Programme, run as a dual pathway with NZ's NCEA in Year 11 onward.
- Curriculum Details
- In Year 11 students undertake NZ's National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) Level 1 and may continue with Levels 2 and 3 or pursue the two‑year IB Diploma.
Tuition
- Boarding Per Year
- NZ$16,000
Boarding fee is charged on top of day tuition.
Day Tuition Per Term
- Amount USD Low
- 2082
- Currency Local
- NZD
- Amount USD High
- 2729
- Amount Local Low
- 3652.68
- Amount Local High
- 4788.46
- Note
- Figures are per school term (NZ private schools typically bill quarterly); multiply by roughly 4 terms for an annual estimate.
Scots College
- Type
- Co-educational Presbyterian day and boarding school, ages 5–18 (Years 0–13); boarding for Years 9–13 in Gibb House
- Location
- Strathmore Park, Wellington
- Curricula
- IB World School — Primary Years Programme, Middle Years Programme and Diploma Programme — with a senior pathway allowing students to choose between NCEA and the IB Diploma.
- Curriculum Details
- The Junior School follows the NZ Curriculum with an inquiry approach, and Te Reo Māori is integrated across programmes.
Tuition
Boarding Per Year
- Amount USD Low
- 7312
- Currency Local
- NZD
- Amount USD High
- 9430
- Amount Local Low
- 12828
- Amount Local High
- 16544
- Note
- Boarding fee is charged in addition to day tuition.
Day Tuition Per Year
- Amount USD Low
- 8983
- Currency Local
- NZD
- Amount USD High
- 11765
- Amount Local Low
- 15760
- Amount Local High
- 20640
St Mark's Church School
- Type
- State-integrated, co-educational primary school (Years 1–8)
- Location
- Basin Reserve area, central Wellington
- Curricula
- IB World School — St Mark's is Wellington's only co-educational IB Primary Years Programme school.
- Curriculum Details
- St Mark's Church School is Wellington's only co-educational IB Primary School.
Tuition
- Note
- As a state-integrated school, families pay compulsory 'attendance dues' rather than full private-school tuition; these are substantially lower than the private-school fees above. We could not confirm a current specific attendance-dues figure and have not invented one.
Homeschooling
- Legal Basis
- Home education is legal nationwide under Section 38 of the Education and Training Act 2020, which replaced the equivalent provision in the earlier Education Act 1989.
- Legal Status
- Fully legal and regulated
- Scale Nationally
- Around 10,800 students were registered as home-educated with the Ministry of Education nationwide in 2024, a small minority of total school enrolments.
- Approval Standard
- The Ministry's designated officer issues the certificate once satisfied the child will be taught 'at least as regularly and well as in a registered school' — this is a quality-of-provision standard, not a mandate to follow the New Zealand Curriculum or NCEA.
- Ongoing Obligations
- Home educators must sign a statutory declaration roughly every six months confirming home education is continuing in accordance with the law, and the Education Review Office may occasionally review a home education programme if the Ministry has concerns, though reviews are described as rare.
- Process And Timeline
- Applying is free and normally takes 4 to 6 weeks. A child already enrolled at school must remain enrolled while the application is pending; a child who has never been enrolled (typically under age 6) does not need to be enrolled during the wait. If declined, parents can appeal in writing, and an unsuccessful appeal can be resubmitted with a revised plan.
- Who Needs An Exemption
- Compulsory school attendance in New Zealand applies to children aged 6 to 16; a parent wishing to home-educate a child in this age range must apply to the Ministry of Education for a long-term Certificate of Exemption from enrolment for each child individually.
- Local Wellington Community Note
- A national umbrella body, the National Council of Home Educators NZ (NCHENZ), exists as a nationwide first point of contact and support resource for home-educating families, including those in Wellington. We could not independently verify a dedicated, actively-run Wellington-specific homeschool co-op or support group (as distinct from this national body) during research, so we have not asserted one exists — families in Wellington should use NCHENZ or the Ministry's regional office as their starting point rather than assume a local group is guaranteed.
Funding Support
- Name
- Home Education Supervision Allowance
- Amount First Child Per Year
- NZ$796
- Note
- Paid to families holding a valid exemption certificate; the amount declines for additional siblings and is paid twice yearly. This is a nationwide Ministry of Education allowance, not a Wellington-specific benefit.
School Notes
Scots College
- Detail
- Scots College is an independent Presbyterian day and boarding school that offers the International Baccalaureate (IB) alongside the New Zealand Curriculum.
Queen Margaret College
- Detail
- Queen Margaret College is a private girls' school that offers a bilingual option in Mandarin and English, and provides the IB Primary Years Programme.
Samuel Marsden Collegiate School
- Detail
- Samuel Marsden Collegiate School is an independent Anglican school for girls, offering the New Zealand Curriculum as well as the IB Diploma Programme for senior students.
Chilton Saint James School
- Detail
- Chilton Saint James School is a private single-sex girls' school offering the New Zealand Curriculum and Cambridge International Examinations, located in Lower Hutt.
Typical Application Fees Example Scots College
one-off, payable when submitting an application
- Cost
- NZ$160
- Fee Type
- Application fee
non-refundable, payable to secure an offered place
- Cost
- NZ$500
- Fee Type
- Acceptance/Entrance fee
International enrolment processing fee
- Cost
- NZ$850
- Note
- one-off, non-refundable, applies specifically to international students on acceptance
Tuition, Years 1-6 (domestic rate, 2026)
- Cost
- NZ$22,980
- Note
- Published domestic-student annual tuition; international-student tuition at this and comparable schools is typically higher, but exact international rates were not published on the school's public fee page at time of research.
Wellington's non-state options for nomad/expat families are mostly private IB or Cambridge-curriculum day schools rather than large purpose-built 'international schools' like you'd find in Asia. The main ones clustered in or near the central city/Karori/Strathmore Park area include Scots College (IB, co-ed), Queen Margaret College (IB, girls, with a Mandarin-English bilingual strand), Samuel Marsden Collegiate School (IB Diploma, girls), Chilton Saint James School (Cambridge, girls), and St Mark's Church School (IB Primary, co-ed).
Visa Note
International Students must have a current Student Visa or student permit to attend a New Zealand secondary school for a course of 3 months or more.
Required Documents
Required Documents
- Copy of the student's birth certificate
- Passport (required in addition to birth certificate if the student was born outside New Zealand)
- For in-zone state-school applications: a rates notice/tenancy agreement and a utility account to confirm in-zone residential status
- For international/fee-paying students at state secondary schools: a current Student Visa (or equivalent permit) is required to attend for a course of 3 months or more
Realistic Timing For Foreign Families
Private/IB schools like Scots College and Queen Margaret College say places are limited each year and encourage applying well ahead of the intended start term — realistically 6-12 months before the New Zealand school year begins (late January). The New Zealand school year runs in four terms from late January to mid-December, so a family targeting a January start should be applying by the preceding mid-year.
State School Zoning And Ballot Reality
Most Wellington state secondary schools (e.g. Wellington College, Wellington High School, Wellington Girls' College) use geographic 'enrolment schemes' (zones). If you live in zone your child automatically qualifies to enrol; if you live outside the zone, a place is not guaranteed and is instead allocated through a published out-of-zone ballot with a hard application deadline, processed only after all in-zone students are placed. Wellington College's zoned application window for 2027 in-zone places closes 22 July 2026 (out-of-zone ballot 27 July 2026), and Wellington High School runs a similar out-of-zone ballot and interview process with specific cut-off dates each year. Families cannot rent temporarily just to get into a zone — enrolments obtained this way can be annulled under the Education and Training Act 2020.
AI-generated estimateData refreshed July 2026
This section has no cited sources.
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Data last updated July 2026 · Verify anything important.