The government high school beating South Africa’s top-performing private schools

·27 Feb 2025

Hoërskool MenloPark is not only one of the best-performing public schools in South Africa, its distinctions per candidate beat some of the nation’s most prestigious private schools.

Hoërskool MenloPark was the second-best-performing government school in the 2024 academic year, securing 768 distinctions when considering AP Maths.

This was less than the nearby Hoërskool Waterkloof, which recorded 811 distinctions. However, Hoërskool MenloPark has a lower number of students.

Hoërskool Waterkloof had an average of 2.18 distinctions per candidate, which is lower than Hoërskool Menlopark’s 2.4.

The school also boasted a grade average of 72.06%, with 85 learners having an A average. However, the school did not boast a 100% average, falling just short at 96.9% in 2024.

Nevertheless, Hoërskool Menlopark is not only one of the best-performing public schools but also outperforms far more expensive private schools.

For instance, BusinessTech’s prior research into the best private schools showed that Hoërskool Menlopark would easily beat some of the best-performing private schools.

The school’s average of 2.4 distinctions per candidate beats the records of the following top 10 schools:

St Benedict’s College (Johannesburg) – 2.33 distinctions per candidate
St Alban’s College (Pretoria) – 2.30 distinctions per candidate
Clifton School (Durban) – 2.20 distinctions per candidate
Kearsney College (Durban) – 2.20 distinctions per candidate
St Andrew’s College (Makhanda) – 1.90 distinctions per candidate

This superior performance also comes off the back of far cheaper school fees. Pretoria-based St. Alban’s College charges R353,580 per student, while Hoërskool Menlopark costs R57,530 per learner.

However, there is a slight caveat as Hoërskool Menlopark is a co-ed school, while the aforementioned private schools listed are boys only.

Co-ed and all-girls schools often do better than boys’ schools, and Hoërskool Menlopark would fail to crack the top 10 best-performing co-ed private schools in 2024.

School’s History

The first school building for Hoërskool MenloPark was completed in 1963. 372 learners in Standard 6, 7, and 8 (Grades 8 to 10) joined the school that same year.

The first year also saw the appointment of the school’s first government body under the chairmanship of Dr. Marais. The first principal Mr. G.P.L. van Zijl is also appointed.

In 1964, Mr. A.J. Koen, the director of education at the time, visited the school to meet with the governing body to discuss the expansion of the school’s grounds.

That same year saw the official school uniforms launched, with the primary colour being a striking navy blue. By 1965, the school requested that parents write a school anthem.

The school selected the combined effort of Mr. J.J. Botha (lyrics) and Dr. O.A. van der Stoep (music). The anthem is named “Hou hoog die vaandel wit en blou” (Hold high the banner, white and blue).

The first edition of the school’s yearbook, the Echo, was also published in 1965, which was the first year that the school had a matric class.

A few years later, in 1972, the school’s own Olympic-standard swimming pool was completed and put into use, with the school becoming known for its strong sports offerings.

The school offers several sports, such as athletics, cricket, cross country, equestrian, golf, hockey, netball, rugby, swimming, tennis and many more.

With the success of the school’s sports offerings, several members of the alumni have gone on to become professional athletes. This includes cricketers Rassie van der Dussen and Heinrich Klassen.

However, its academic success has also seen many alumni become prominent in business. This includes Laurie Dippenaar, who was the founder of the FirstRand Group and the owner of FNB and RMB.

Former Eskom and Nampak CEO André de Ruyter also matriculated from the school in 1985.

Former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Pretoria and the University of Hull, Calie Pistorius, also attended the school.

In the arts space, France-based Afrikaans author Marita van der Vyver also attended the school, while actress Jana Cilliers was one of the first people to matriculate from the school.