Deputy secretary for sector enablement and support Katrina Casey confirmed the move but would not reveal where it might be.
Ms Casey said in an emailed statement: ``We think it's likely we will need to build another primary school in the area.
``We are currently evaluating possible sites for this.
``We don't comment on potential sites while we are in the process of identifying and acquiring them, as this information is commercially sensitive.''
Ms Casey said existing schools were coping with growing pains.
Yet there had been a surge in school rolls in the Basin.
Shotover Primary jumped from 319 to 363 pupils and Arrowtown Primary, which started the term with 544 youngsters, was expected to reach 600 by the end of the year.
The ministry is spending about $1.5million to move Frankton Playcentre to a new location to free up space at Remarkables Primary.
St Joseph's Primary School principal Trisch Inder said a common-sense approach would be to build a new school near new development areas.
``I think, to manage the growth, it has to be outside [the CBD] and the growth is Frankton, Lake Hayes and Shotover. So, really, they are looking at where the best location is.''
The ministry published its first ``growth plan'' in 2009, when Remarkables Primary, Shotover Primary and the relocation of Wakatipu High School, to a Frankton site, were all approved.
It brought in a facilitator last year to assess needs over the next 10 to 20 years.
Ms Inder said that showed the ministry was listening.
``I think the ministry this time realised it needed to be more proactive.''
Arrowtown School head Chris Bryant said finding a new site would not be easy.
``I don't think anyone could have anticipated what was going to happen in the Wakatipu Basin. The growth has been far greater than expected.''
Queenstown Primary principal Fiona Cavanagh said a new school, outside the CBD, was great news for parents and pupils living in new residential areas.
While there was a slight decrease in pupil numbers this year, going to school within your local community was extremely important, she said.
In 2014, the ministry presented a plan to cut school bus routes but backed off after a public outcry.
Three years earlier, it had drastically changed Remarkables Primary's zone to battle overcrowding. - Mountain Scene
