Lifestyle

60 of the most expensive boarding and day schools in South Africa in 2020

Staff Writer

 ·9 Jan 2020

After struggling through a flat economy in 2019, parents can expect the cost of private education in South Africa to escalate in 2020 – reaching record highs.

The average fee hike among the 20 most expensive schools is around 7%.

And as prices continue to climb, parents are starting to feel the pinch – with financial difficulties cited as one of the key reasons children are leaving private schools.

Private school operators, such as AdvTech, in turn have had to change their operating strategies in this sector, namely a push into mid-market private schooling options.

When BusinessTech first started tracking the most expensive schools in 2014, only one school (Hilton College) was priced over R200,000 for boarding and tuition – now in 2020, over 30 schools have moved into that price bracket.

Hilton, and nearby MichaelHouse, have since pushed into the R300,000 per year bracket.

In the 2019 listing of most expensive schools, 23 boarding schools exceeded R200,000 for the year, while 28 day schools had fees exceeding R100,000 annually.

In the 2020 listing, this has jumped to 31 boarding schools, and 58 day schools, respectively.

These are the 10 most expensive schools in 2020:

Hilton College – R321,890

MichaelHouse – R303,600

St Andrew’s College – R291,000

Roedean School for Girls – R287,558

St John’s College – R284,198

Bishops College – R277,800

Kearsney College – R277,200

St Mary’s Waverly- R272,240

St Andrew’s School for Girls – R265,270

St Alban’s College – R264,900

Boarding schools – boarding and tuition

Hilton College in the KwaZulu-Natal midlands retains its title as the most expensive school in the country, with its annual fees (which only allows for boarding) at R321,890.

Aside from the prestige, tradition, and beautiful facilities and grounds, the fees generally cover tuition, board, games, ordinary medical attention, the use of the sanatorium, library and laundry. It also includes basic entertainment which is arranged for learners, and transport for sporting and other events.

MichaelHouse is now the only other school to have fees over R300,000 in the country, with its 2020 fees at R303,600. Hilton and MichaelHouse increased fees in-line with other schools at 8% and 7%, respectively.

It must be noted that most schools do not include additional fees in this amount. Additional fees can typically relate to various levies, such as IT and infrastructure, as well as further costs for food, extra mural activities and trips.

Depending on the level of services provided, these fees will push the total amount payable by parents each year much higher.

The fees listed below are as they appear on the various schools’ web pages, and cover board and tuition only. Fees are for the highest level of learning available (up to grade 12). They include only the listed tuition fees, and exclude voluntary or additional fees (where listed). We’ve included the annual increase for schools where we have historic data.

Day schools – tuition only

When taking out the boarding options, the list of most expensive schools changes considerably (with MichaelHouse and Hilton removed, as they do not offer day school options).

While R200,000 is the ‘benchmark’ level for expensive tuition and board, when it comes to tuition only, there are many schools that now charge over R100,000 a year.

Kearsney College again ranks as the most expensive day school in the country with an annual tuition fee of just over R190,000, up 7% from 2019.

With this average increase across most schools, there are a large number of new entries into the R100,000-plus per year price range.

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