Massive private school fee hikes expected in 2025

A recent research bulletin indicates that, on average, schools in South Africa have raised their fees by CPI plus 2.6% since 2012—meaning the most expensive school in South Africa could end up charging well over R400,000 per year, with others not far behind.

Parents can expect little relief in 2025, with reports suggesting that fee hikes for South African schools will yet again come in above general inflation, which is currently forecasted to average at 5.1% for 2024, according to the South Africa Reserve Bank (SARB).

According to various reports, parents with children at government and private schools should brace themselves for fee increases of between 6% and 10%.

This is not unusual. An economic bulletin published by the SARB noted that school fee increases in South Africa have, on average, been roughly 2.6% above inflation every year since 2012, except for 2021.

The SARB further noted that if the CPI and the school fee index had been equal in 2011, by 2021, the school fee index had risen 22.8% higher than the CPI.

This is significant when you consider the prices of South Africa’s most expensive schools.

In 2024, fees for boarding schools and day schools increased at an average of 7.3% across the 40 most expensive schools in the country, a couple of percentage points above the SARB’s expected inflation rate over the 2023 financial year (5.8%).

This is coupled with the erosion of salaries in the country, where the average take-home pay increased by 1% over the past seven years while inflation increased by 40%.

Currently, it is recommended that no more than 15% of your annual salary should be spent on education, meaning you would have to earn between R840,000 and R2.5 million annually to enrol your kid at South Africa’s most expensive private schools.

2025 fees

According to the SARB’s estimates, parents can expect another year of hefty increases to fees in 2025.

The SARB’s focused healing inflation is set to be 5.1% for the 2024 financial year, meaning parents can expect school fees to increase by an estimated 7.7%.

Should this materialise, there could be at least nine private schools charging more than R350,000 a year for boarding and tuition, up from six in 2024.

Hilton College in KwaZulu-Natal would continue to be the most expensive school in the country, as it is the only private school charging over R400,000 per year.

If fees are hiked by 7.7%, Hilton would see its costs shoot up to R428,280 per annum. However, Michaelhouse and St Andrew’s College in Makhanda would follow Hilton closely, with fees around R390,000.

Other high-fee schools, such as Roedean School for Girls, St John’s College, Kearsney College, Bishops College, St Mary’s, and St Alban’s College would also all be heading for more than R350,000 annually.

These changes would not be a stretch of the imagination, with private school fees more than doubling over the past decade.

The top schools hiked prices between 70% and 105% between 2014 and 2024. Four schools increased rates by over 100%.

Diocesan School for Girls has seen the biggest fee increase in the past decade at 105%, followed by Bishops College, Kingswood College, and St Anne’s Diocesan College.

The tables below show the estimated fee increases for 2025 of the top 10 most expensive boarding and day private schools in South Africa based on the SARB’s data.

It must be noted that the fees in the tables are estimates. Schools are expected to post official tuition fees for 2025 closer to the end of the year.

Boarding schools

Day schools

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