A new Marian College is being built in Christchurch’s north west on a new three hectare site, with an open date of mid-2023.

Our new College will neighbour St Joseph’s Primary School and will be on land bordered by Vagues Road, Main North Road and Northcote Road with the main entrance off Lydia Street.

Marian College is a Catholic special character school under the State Integration Act.

The preference is for students to be Catholic, which is why the term ‘preference enrolment’ or ‘preference student’ is used.

Your daughter may be eligible for enrolment as a preference student if she is:

• Baptised or is being prepared to become Catholic
• Has a sibling who is baptised Catholic
• Has a parent baptised Catholic
• A significant familial adult such as a grandparent, aunt or uncle who is actively involved in her upbringing and can support her formation in the faith and practices of the Catholic Church
• One or both parents is preparing to become a Catholic.

To confirm your daughter’s status as a preference student, a preference card, for Marian College, is required from a parish priest.

Under the Act, up to five percent of our total student roll may be ‘non-preference’ or ‘non-Catholic’ students provided there is less than 430 students after all Catholic applicants have enrolled.

A ballot for non-preference students is drawn on 31 July.

If you have any questions, please contact the Marian College office.

Marian College offers a subsidised designated bus service to and from Queenspark via Shirley to our Barbadoes Street campus.

There is also a designated school bus service 722: Waimakariri to Christchurch schools for North Canterbury students which stops at our Barbadoes Street campus.

These services are very popular with students.

Yes. As of 2021, BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) is now compulsory at Marian College. ​​​​​​​

The Stationery | BYOD Page has more information.

The cost of attending Marian College is comparable to other Catholic secondary schools in Christchurch.

In some instances Marian College is more affordable – for example some team sport uniforms are provided and fundraising, subsidising and grants help reduce the costs of school activities.

You can see a break-down of costs on the Fees Page.

Also, some financial contributions to the school are classed as a donation and are tax deductible.

This means you can claim back 33.33% of your contributions using the IR526 tax credit claim form.

Absolutely. Our Finance Administrator can help with working out payments to suit your family. For example payments can be made weekly, fortnightly or monthly by automatic payment.

If you purchase the summer, winter and PE uniform brand-new the cost all together will be around $1,000.00, which is comparable to other Catholic secondary schools.

Some pre-loved uniform items are available for purchase from the Marian College school office at half price.