St Paul’s Collegiate School is thrilled to announce a significant milestone in its history: starting in 2026, enrolled Year 9 girls will join our school community, with this inaugural cohort continuing into Year 10 in 2027. To read the announcement of this news, see here. Below are some commonly asked questions and answers.
1. Why is St Paul’s introducing girls in Years 9 and 10?
The St Paul’s Collegiate School Board (the Waikato Anglican College Trust) is proud of the provision of educational experiences it offers. Across both its Hamilton and Tihoi Venture School campuses, the School is committed to delivering learning opportunities that are focused on developing the character of each young person, in environments that are engaging, challenging and supportive. The Board believe these experiences should be available to both boys and girls.
2. How will classes be structured in Years 9 and 10?
Boys and girls will be taught in single-sex classroom environments in both Year 9 and Year 10. This approach provides our teaching staff with the opportunity to design courses and content specific to the group they have in front of them. For example, a Year 9 boys’ English class may be studying a different text to a Year 9 girls’ English class who are learning in an adjacent teaching space.
3. How will the Year 9 and 10 classes be organised?
The Board is committed to continuing to deliver on an average class size of 20 or less. The School will continue to stream classes in Years 9 and 10 to allow for the benefits of effective differentiated learning.
4. What will be the size of the Junior School (Years 9 and 10)?
There will be no change to the number of boys enrolled in the Junior School. 72 girls will be enrolled to start in Year 9 in 2026. These 72 students will progress to being the first cohort of Year 10 female students at St Paul’s in 2027.
5. How will this introduction affect the Tihoi Venture School experience?
From 2027, Tihoi will operate differently, offering three intakes across each year (instead of the current two intake model).
Year 10 boys will be separated into two intakes, each comprising of the existing 72-student capacity. Their experience will occur over a 12-week period, with a programme heavily orientated towards outdoor educational activities. A significant volume of academic classroom teaching currently delivered on the Tihoi campus (across the current 18-week Tihoi in-campus programme) will be reassigned to the teaching staff on the Hamilton campus.
Year 10 girls will experience an independently designed girls’ outdoor education experience, scheduled across a maximum 12-week window, consisting of 72 female students. The nature of this programme will be determined throughout 2025, led by outdoor instructor experts, educationalists, and an advisory group of former Tihoi Directors.
6. What is the enrolment process for Year 9 girls applying for 2026?
Applications can be made on our website (https://www.stpauls.school.nz/page/enrolments). Enrolments are open from today and initial applications will be reviewed from February 2025 and interviews for applicants with existing affiliations to St Paul’s will take place in March and April 2025. Our potential student enrolment interviews will be available in April and May 2025, subject to availability. Please note, that we are not enrolling Year 10 girls in 2026, and Year 11, 12, and 13 placements will remain unchanged.
7. Will my Year 9 daughter be able to board at St Paul’s from 2026?
In 2026 there are a small number of boarding positions available among the cohort of 72 who will be enrolled.
8. What is the history of girls at St Paul’s?
In 1985 St Paul’s introduced female students in Years 12 and 13. Year 11 female students have been enrolled since 2010. Females currently comprise almost 40% of the Year 11-13 Senior School cohort.
Online enrolment form »
