McRae left to be principal of Diocesan School for Girls and was replaced by Michael Williams from Aorere College.

As part of a school science project in 2004 at Pakuranga College, two 14-year-old school girls (Anna Devathasan and Jenny Suo) discovered that Ribena, a blackcurrant fruit juice drink sold in 100 ml ready-to-drink containers contained very little Vitamin C, contrary to advertising for the product.

Approaches by the two teens to the company did not resolve the issue but the matter was publicised on national consumer affairs television show Fair Go and came to the attention of the Commerce Commission (a government funded 'consumer watch-dog').

The commission's testing found that Ribena contained no detectable vitamin C. On 27 March 2007, GlaxoSmithKline pleaded guilty in an Auckland District Court to 15 charges relating to misleading conduct, and was fined $217,000.

The students of Pakuranga College are randomly divided into six different houses (called Whānau) named after New Zealand native trees.

In late 2024, Pakuranga College had announced plans to bar Year 13 pupils from wearing mufti in 2025, citing safety concerns.

[18] This change faced opposition, particularly due to the short notice and financial concerns relating to the cost of a new uniform.