As a state-integrated Catholic school in the
Palmerston North diocese, Sacred Heart has a preferential enrolment scheme. In general, preferential enrolment is given to students who are baptised Catholic, or who has a baptised Catholic parent or sibling; a signed letter from the priest of the student's or their parent's parish is required to confirm preferential enrolment. The school is permitted to enrol a limited number of non-preferential (i.e. non-Catholic) students, but these students must not exceed 5% of the school's roll. While effectively a state-run school, the school land and buildings at Sacred Heart and other state-integrated schools are still privately owned and are not funded by the Government. Land and buildings are instead funded through compulsory "attendance dues" paid by the students' parents. The amount payable is set by the diocese, and as of 2014 is set at $818 per year. At the October 2012
Education Review Office (ERO) report, Sacred Heart College had a roll of 275 students, including two
international students. 65% of students identified as being
European New Zealanders (Pākehā), 22% identified as
Māori, 9% as
Pasifika, and 4% as another ethnicity. The school has a
socio-economic decile of 5, which means the school draws similar numbers of poorer and well-off students, if slightly to the poorer side. ==Notable alumni==