Long Bay College: School Profile, Zones, Roll and Results
Type “LBC” into a search engine in New Zealand and one school dominates the results: Long Bay College, the big state secondary school on Ashley Avenue in Long Bay, on Auckland’s North Shore. The college uses the initials itself, from its email addresses at lbc.school.nz to its student guide and its news site, so LBC and Long Bay College are the same place.
It is a co-educational school for Years 9 to 13, a short walk from the beach at Long Bay, with a roll closing in on 1,900 students. This profile pulls together what the official record says about it: the Ministry of Education’s Education Counts data on roll, composition and results, and the college’s own published information on its zone, programmes, uniform and costs.
Quick facts
- Official name: Long Bay College, widely known as LBC
- Ministry of Education institution number: 27
- Type: State, co-educational secondary school
- Year levels: Years 9 to 13
- Address: 30 Ashley Avenue, Long Bay, Auckland 0630
- Postal address: PO Box 89007, Torbay, Auckland 0742
- Phone: 09 477 9009
- Roll: 1,893 students at 1 July 2025 (Education Counts)
- Principal: CJ Healey
- Enrolment scheme: Yes, a home zone has applied since 2008
- School values: Care, Respect, Creativity and Community
- Website: longbaycollege.com
About the school
Long Bay College opened in 1975 and marked its 50th anniversary in 2025, with reunion events run under the banner of a “50-year journey”. Five decades on, it is one of the larger secondary schools on the North Shore, drawing most of its students from the East Coast Bays and the Albany side of the motorway.
The college organises much of its daily life around belonging. Every student is placed in one of five houses, each named for a native New Zealand bird: Takahē, Tīeke, Tara iti, Kea and Kōkako. Students stay in their house for their whole time at the college, compete for an end of year house trophy, and wear their house colour on their PE uniform shirt.
Pastoral care runs through a system the school calls Atawhai, a Māori word for kindness. Each student belongs to an Atawhai group led by an Atawhai Leader, a staff member who is the first point of contact for the student and their family. Around that sit year level deans, three guidance counsellors, youth workers, a school nurse and medical room, an on-site physiotherapist for ACC injuries, plus learning support and careers teams. Senior students are also trained as peer support leaders to help Year 9 students settle in.
The school day starts with a first period at 8.45am (9.10am on Wednesdays) and ends at 3.15pm. Term dates follow the usual state school pattern. In 2026, Term 1 ran from late January to 2 April, Term 2 from 20 April to 3 July, Term 3 from 20 July to 25 September, and Term 4 from 12 October to 10 December. Families planning travel around the breaks can compare those dates with the national NZ school holidays calendar.
Roll and student composition
Long Bay College has grown quickly in recent years. Education Counts roll returns, taken each 1 July, show the total climbing from 1,457 students in 2022 to 1,893 in 2025, after a dip during the Covid period.
| 1 July roll return | Total roll |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 1,538 |
| 2022 | 1,457 |
| 2023 | 1,601 |
| 2024 | 1,772 |
| 2025 | 1,893 |
The 2025 roll was spread fairly evenly across the year levels: 382 students in Year 9, 418 in Year 10, 411 in Year 11, 361 in Year 12 and 321 in Year 13 and above. The published gender table records 963 male students in 2025; the female count is suppressed in that table because of small numbers in another category, but the earlier published splits (775 girls and 763 boys in 2021) show a school that is close to evenly balanced.
Ethnic composition figures from Education Counts are multiple response, meaning students who identify with more than one group are counted in each, so the numbers add to more than the roll. On that basis, the 2025 roll included 1,364 European/Pākehā students, 386 Asian students, 158 Māori students, 78 MELAA (Middle Eastern, Latin American and African) students, 58 Pacific students and 42 students in other groups. The fastest change has been in the Asian student population, which more than doubled between 2021 and 2025, from 177 to 386.
The college also runs a substantial international student programme, with homestay placements and a dedicated international department. International students numbered 130 at 1 July 2025, recovering strongly from just 20 in 2022 when border settings still limited arrivals.
Enrolment zone and how enrolment works
Long Bay College has an enrolment scheme, so where a student lives decides whether they have an automatic right to a place. Students who live inside the home zone are entitled to enrol. Everyone else is an out-of-zone applicant, and places for them are limited.
The home zone published by Education Counts covers the coastal strip of the East Coast Bays and reaches inland towards Albany. Its boundary starts at Bawden Road by State Highway 1, runs south along the motorway to Greville Road, then east along Greville Road to East Coast Road. From there it heads north up East Coast Road and Oaktree Avenue, across to Glencoe Road and Beach Road, then north along Beach Road to Anzac Road and the coast. The boundary then follows the coastline north around to the Okura area and back west to Bawden Road. In practical terms that takes in Long Bay, Okura, Torbay and Waiake and streets on the Albany side around Oaktree Avenue. Both sides of boundary roads are included unless the scheme says otherwise, and the college requires proof of residence.
Out-of-zone places are scarce because the roll is growing. For 2027, the college offered just 20 out-of-zone places, all at Year 9, with none at Years 10 to 13. Applications for those places closed at 4pm on Wednesday 2 September 2026 and a ballot was held on Wednesday 9 September 2026. The priority order is set nationally under the Education and Training Act 2020 and the board cannot change it: siblings of current students come first among out-of-zone applicants, followed by siblings of former students, children of former students, children of board employees, and then all other applicants. Where a priority group has more applicants than places, a ballot decides.
Enrolment applications for 2027 opened on 29 May 2026. Families applying need to supply proof of the student’s date of birth, citizenship, residency or visa evidence if the student was not born in New Zealand, the student’s latest school report, and, for students entering Years 11 to 13 from another New Zealand school, a copy of their NCEA transcript.
Academic results
The most useful official measure of a secondary school’s results is what its leavers walk away with. Education Counts publishes school leaver attainment from Ministry and NZQA records, and on that measure Long Bay College has improved steadily over the past three years. The share of leavers holding NCEA Level 2 or above, the benchmark qualification for further study and many entry-level jobs, rose from 87.7 percent in 2023 to 91.3 percent in 2024 and 92.6 percent in 2025. Of the 338 students who left in 2025, 313 held Level 2 or better. Girls and boys finished close together that year, at 91.4 percent and 93.9 percent respectively.
Senior students work through NCEA at Levels 1, 2 and 3, combining internal assessment during the year with the external NZQA exams held each November. University Entrance sits on top of Level 3 for students heading to degree study, and the college also enters students for NZ Scholarship.
Not every pathway is academic in the traditional sense. Education Counts records that 16.0 percent of the college’s 2025 leavers, 54 students, left with at least one Vocational Pathway Award, which recognises NCEA learning aligned to industry sectors such as construction, creative industries and services. The college’s latest published tertiary progression data shows 117 of 261 leavers going on to degree-level study, a further 47 into non-degree tertiary study at Levels 3 to 7, and the rest heading into work or other destinations.
Programmes, sport and the arts
The junior school covers a broad curriculum, and senior courses are organised across the standard learning areas: English, mathematics, science, social sciences, technology, business, health and physical education, visual arts, performing arts, and global studies, which includes languages and an English for Academic Purposes programme for students learning English. A careers centre helps with course planning, work experience, CVs and interviews, and the Gateway programme places senior students in real workplaces to build employment skills alongside their school study.
Sport runs in two main seasons. Summer codes across Terms 1 and 4 include cricket, indoor and beach volleyball, water polo for seniors, touch rugby, athletics, futsal, orienteering and tennis. The winter season in Terms 2 and 3 covers basketball, football, hockey, rugby, netball, curling, snow sports, junior water polo, squash and distance running. The college also runs a Sports Academy and a fitness centre, the Latitude 36 Fitness Hub, which is open to all students and staff.
The performing arts programme is extensive for a state school. Ensembles listed by the college include a concert band, a big band, rock bands, the LBC Chorale and Stella Voce choirs, a string ensemble and a flute choir, alongside individual instrumental tuition. Drama students can join the junior drama company, the Shakespeare company or the improv company, and the calendar includes a school production, dance, Showquest and TOI wearable arts. Beyond the arts, the clubs list runs from robotics, coding and chess to a garden club, culture clubs and the Duke of Edinburgh Hillary Award, so most students can find something outside the classroom.
Uniform and costs
Uniform is compulsory for every student. It is sold through The Uniform Shoppe at 83 Te Oneroa Way in Long Bay village. A separate PE uniform is compulsory for physical education at all year levels, and the PE shirt comes in the colours of the student’s house. The college’s student guide sets detailed presentation expectations covering hair, jewellery and makeup, so new families should read it before buying anything beyond the standard uniform items.
As a state school, Long Bay College does not charge tuition fees to domestic students, but it does ask families for an annual school donation. For 2027 the donation is $355 for one student, or $495 for a family with two or more students at the college, if paid in full before 31 March 2027. From 1 April 2027 the standard rates are $380 and $520. Payment is made through Kindo. The college says the donation helps pay for additional teachers and administration staff beyond what the Ministry of Education funds, which supports smaller class sizes.
The other significant cost is a laptop. A BYOD laptop has been compulsory for Years 9 to 12 since 2024 and is expected for Year 13 students. The college recommends a Windows 11 laptop and specifically advises against iPads and Chromebooks, because its courses use software that needs a full laptop hard drive and the Microsoft 365 platform. Minimum specifications are 8GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, a screen of at least 13 inches, Wi-Fi 6, and battery life that lasts the school day, around seven hours. Students taking senior digital technology, media or visual art subjects are advised to step up to 16GB of RAM and a dedicated graphics card.
There is help for families who would struggle with that cost. The college has arranged student pricing with Noel Leeming, points families to Good Shepherd NZ’s no-interest loan scheme, and holds a limited number of loan laptops. School-owned devices carry a $100 insurance excess and require a refundable bond of $100.
Frequently asked questions
What does LBC stand for?
LBC stands for Long Bay College, the state secondary school in Long Bay, Auckland. The college uses the abbreviation itself in its email domain, lbc.school.nz, its student publications and its sports teams.
What year levels does Long Bay College cover?
Years 9 to 13. Students generally start at age 12 or 13 and can stay through to the end of secondary school and NCEA Level 3.
Does Long Bay College have an enrolment zone?
Yes. The college has had an enrolment scheme since 2008. Students living in the home zone, which covers Long Bay, Torbay, Waiake, Okura and surrounding streets, are entitled to enrol. Out-of-zone places are very limited: for 2027 there were 20 places at Year 9 only, decided by ballot under the national priority order.
How many students go to Long Bay College?
The roll was 1,893 at 1 July 2025, according to Education Counts, up from 1,457 in 2022. Around 130 of those students were international students.
Does Long Bay College have a uniform?
Yes, uniform is compulsory for all students and is sold at The Uniform Shoppe in Long Bay village. There is also a compulsory PE uniform, with the shirt coloured by the student’s house.
What does it cost to attend Long Bay College?
There are no tuition fees for domestic students at this state school. The college requests a voluntary annual donation, set at $355 for one student for 2027 if paid before 31 March 2027 ($380 after that date), with a family rate for two or more students. Families also need to budget for the uniform and a BYOD laptop, although loan devices and no-interest loan schemes are available for families in hardship.
How do Long Bay College students do in NCEA?
In 2025, 92.6 percent of the college’s school leavers left with NCEA Level 2 or above, up from 87.7 percent in 2023, based on Education Counts leaver data.
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Sources
- Education Counts (Ministry of Education), Long Bay College (#27) profile and enrolment scheme description: https://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/find-school/school/profile?school=27
- Education Counts, Long Bay College student population, roll by year level, trends and age: https://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/find-school/school/population/year?district=®ion=&school=27
- Education Counts, Long Bay College school qualifications, NCEA Level 2 and Vocational Pathway Awards: https://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/find-school/school/qualifications/ncea-level-2?district=%C2%AEion%3D®ion&school=27
- Long Bay College, Enrolment Journey, Uniform, Stationery and BYOD, and School Donations pages, and the LBC Student Guide 2026: https://www.longbaycollege.com
- NZQA, information about NCEA and University Entrance: https://www2.nzqa.govt.nz/ncea/aboutncea/
Disclaimer
This article is general information about Long Bay College drawn from Education Counts and the college’s own website at the time of writing. Rolls, zone boundaries, donation amounts, enrolment dates and programme details change over time. Check the college website and Education Counts for the current details before making enrolment decisions.
