{"id":813331,"date":"2025-02-21T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-21T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=813331"},"modified":"2025-02-21T14:06:31","modified_gmt":"2025-02-21T12:06:31","slug":"the-south-african-private-school-that-ranks-among-the-best-in-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/813331\/the-south-african-private-school-that-ranks-among-the-best-in-the-world\/","title":{"rendered":"The South African private school that ranks among the best in the world"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Michaelhouse has been named one of the best schools in the world. The boarding school for boys is renowned for its sports, academics, and cultural activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michaelhouse’s history dates back to the nineteenth century. It was founded in 1896 by James Cameron Todd, a British Anglican canon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the time, very few institutions in South Africa offered education beyond Standard VII (Grade 9). Unlike the current standard, private schools often struggled to produce consistent matriculation results. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During his early years in South Africa, Todd realised the need for a high-calibre boys’ school in the region. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The school was tiny at the start, with Todd welcoming just 15 boys in two modest houses on Loop Street in Pietermaritzburg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The school would eventually outgrow its original premises and relocate to Balgowan in KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, with the number of students increasing to 77.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite now charging R392,000 per year for students, Michaelhouse’s early years were characterised by a lack of access to basic services. The boys helped farm the land to supplement their food supply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michaelhouse’s reputation continued to grow throughout the twentieth century. It is now renowned for its excellent grounds and strong academic performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The boarding school also recently appeared on Spear’s Magazine’s list of the world’s best private schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ranking evaluated schools on their academic performance, cultural and social factors, and overall standing. It is developed in partnership with the international educational consultancy Thuso. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike other studies that may simply evaluate a school’s reputation based on academic achievements, Spear’s list includes several other factors needed to create an environment that fosters students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The school was also ranked third in the ‘Rest of the World’ Category, standing alongside other elite schools from India, Pakistan, Chile, Argentina, and Kenya.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Academically, the school achieved a 100% pass rate in the 2024 Independent Examinations Board (IEB) exams. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boys from Michaelhouse also frequently progress to the top universities worldwide due to the transferrable nature of South African school qualifications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the excellent education standards at the school, several other ports, clubs, and activities are on offer within the college’s massive grounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This includes 12 playing fields, tennis courts, cricket grounds and a golf driving range. On the cultural side, there are ceramics rooms, art studios and nine musical practice rooms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notable features<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n
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With its over century-long history, Michaelhouse alumni have represented South Africa and many other countries in various sports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

157 Old Michaelhousians have represented 17 countries in 48 different sporting disciplines. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This includes former South African cricket captain Alan Melville, world-record 100m sprinter holder Paul Nash, Springbok Patrick Lambie and Olympic gold-winning sprint canoeist Jean van der Westhuyzen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the arts, alumni include David Scott, known as the Kiffness. Playwright and author John van de Ruit also attended the school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Van de Ruit is best known for his 2005 novel Spud, which is based on his experiences at Michaelhouse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spud and its sequels would be adapted to film and starred British comedy legend John Cleese and South African-born Australian pop star Troye Sivan. The movies were filmed at Michaelhouse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michaelhouse is also known for its friendly rivalry with the nearby Hilton College, which is the only school in the country with higher fees, with parents forking out R420,729 for a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two schools are the only two full boarding schools in KZN and are extremely close to one another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michaelhouse’s sister school is St Anne’s Diocesan College, which is found in Hilton, KZN. The two schools often collaborate on activities, such as their school theatre productions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Images of Michaelhouse<\/h2>\n\n\n
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Michaelhouse has been named as one of the best private schools in the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":813393,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9876],"tags":[21810,21809,21807,21811],"class_list":["post-813331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-david-scott","tag-james-cameron-todd","tag-micahelhouse","tag-patrick-lambie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/813331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=813331"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/813331\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":813450,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/813331\/revisions\/813450"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/813393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=813331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=813331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=813331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}