New private university coming to South Africa

Private school group AdvTech is pushing for its private tertiary education institutes to become official universities in South Africa.

In preparation, the group is developing a massive 9,000-capacity facility in Sandton, which it plans to have ready by 2026.

The group has reported a significant jump in earnings for the full year ending 31 December 2024, including passing the milestone of 100,000 enrolments across the group.

AdvTech is the owner of Varsity College and the Crawford and TrinityHouse chain of private schools in South Africa.

The group reported an 8% jump in revenue to R8.52 billion for 2024, up from R7.86 billion in the comparable period, driven by tuition fees across its schools and tertiary education segments.

Operating profit before interest and non-trading items increased by 14% to R1.79 billion from R.58 billion, while normalised earnings increased by 17% to R1.1 billion.

Headline earnings per share increased by 16% to 202.2 cents per share from 174.2 cents per share, and earnings per share increased by 16% to 201.7 cents per share from 174.4 cents per share.

A full-year dividend of 101.0 cents per share was declared, up from 87.0 cents per share declared for the prior corresponding year.

ADvTECH’s strong performance was driven by continued growth in South Africa, where school and tertiary revenue increased 11% and 14$, respectively, accounting for the majority share of earnings.

Enrolments in schools in South Africa were up 4% to 34,093 learners at February 2025, with an additional 11,550 in the rest of Africa division for a total school enrolment of 45,643—up 11%.

The group added 8,513 organically, with 3,037 coming through acquisition.

In the tertiary segment, the group increased its full qualification enrolments by 14% to 60,067, giving the group combined enrolments over 100,000 for the first time.

The group said that strong demand has necessitated school buildouts to keep up.

Strong enrollment growth at Pinnacle College Raslouw has necessitated the accelerated build-out of the school, which is currently underway.

A new Pinnacle College campus was also opened in Ridgeview, Roodepoort, in January 2025.

Overall, the group noted that it has capacity for 54,700 students (9,100 more spaces), but has an ultimate capacity of 64,600 (19,000 more spaces).

The tertiary segment also has big expansion plans, it said.

The expansion of the Rosebank College sites at Braamfontein and Polokwane is currently under way, and a new purpose-built campus has also been completed for Vega Pretoria adjacent to Varsity College.

The group also acquired a 47,000-square-metre property off Grayston Drive in Sandton, which will be developed into a brand-new campus with an initial capacity for 9,000 students.

Varsity College Sandton and Vega Bordeaux will relocate to the site in time for the 2026 academic year.

“This acquisition is in line with our intention to become a fully-fledged university,” AdvTech said.

Currently, only government-owned institutions can be called universities; however, a draft Policy for the Recognition of South African Higher Education Institutional Types was released in September 2022, setting out the criteria for being recognised as a university.

Following the submission of comments, a second draft was published in April 2024.

AdvTech submitted comments on the second draft in May 2024 and awaits the gazetting of the policy and criteria.

“Recognition as a university will ultimately benefit our students, who will rightfully be afforded the same status as their peers who obtain identically accredited qualifications through a Public University,” it said.

“In this regard, we continue to engage with the Department of Higher Education and Training to bring this to fruition.”

Internationally, Rosebank College will launch its first international tertiary institution in Accra, Ghana, in September 2025.