Southland Boys' High School is proud of the well-rounded and well educated young men who graduate from this school with bright futures ahead of them. 

In 2023 our students achieved higher National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) results than the national average, and higher results than all boys in Southland. These results – compared to boys across the region and throughout New Zealand – prove that boys do better in boys’ schools. 

We believe that education is about success across a wide range of activities, including academic endeavours, cultural pursuits and sport. This broad education results in well-rounded young men who can transition successfully into work or further study.

​For information on the subjects available, please click on Course Overview below.

The National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) is the main national qualification for secondary school students in New Zealand. 

NCEA is recognised by employers, and used for selection by universities and polytechnics, both in New Zealand and overseas. Each year, students study a number of courses or subjects. In each subject, skills and knowledge are assessed against a number of standards. Schools use a range of internal and external assessments to measure how well students meet these standards. When a student achieves a standard, they gain a number of credits. Students must achieve a certain number of credits to gain an NCEA certificate.

There are three levels of NCEA, depending on the difficulty of the standards achieved. Students work through levels 1 to 3 in Years 11 to 13 at school, and are recognised for high achievement at each level by gaining NCEA with Merit, or NCEA with Excellence.