{"id":846580,"date":"2026-01-19T17:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T15:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=846580"},"modified":"2026-01-19T15:28:04","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T13:28:04","slug":"two-private-schools-in-south-africa-named-among-the-best-in-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/846580\/two-private-schools-in-south-africa-named-among-the-best-in-the-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Two private schools in South Africa named among the best in the world"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

South African private schools, Bishops Diocesan College and MichaelHouse, have again been listed as the top schools in the country, and among the best in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The schools were named in the latest Carfax Education Schools Index for 2025\/26<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both schools were listed alongside three other African schools in the 2024\/25 Carfax Index, with the latest listing showing their enduring high quality and prestige.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Carfax Schools Index is an international guide for parents seeking the very best education for their children, regardless of their location around the globe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Carfax Index and the Spear’s Index\u2014which ranked five South African schools in 2025\u2014used to be the same listing, but the two split in 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Carfax, its index is entirely independent and does not take into account any commercial grounds for inclusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The Schools Index does not solicit or accept payment from schools for inclusion or profile enhancement,” it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notably, the group stated that inclusion in the rankings is based on a research and review process that examines academic results, leadership, ethos, reputation, facilities, university destinations, and long-term outcomes for pupils.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While schools can submit a nomination to be included, the Carfax editorial team assess and considers the rankings, and no fees or payments are accepted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Carfax rankings also feature a “Schools to Watch” list, now a separate index, which will be updated at a different time. One South African school, Hilton College, made the list in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Schools Index comprises 150 schools across the world, which are split into 14 categories, including the top schools in Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schools are listed in each category, not ranked in a single comprehensive list or in any particular order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The top schools in South Africa<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Bishops<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As in the 2024\/25 listing, Bishops and MichaelHouse were listed alongside three other African schools: the American School of Lagos (Nigeria), Pembroke House (Kenya), and the British International School (Egypt).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bishops Diocesan College is a 176-year-old private school in Rondebosch, Cape Town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The school was founded in 1849 as Diocesan School of the Diocese of Cape Town by Bishop Robert Gray, the eponymous \u201cBishop\u201d the school is commonly known as.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The school teaches boys aged 11 to 18 and offers a unique space for them to develop at their own pace, catering to their individual needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the school is founded on the Anglican faith and upholds strong spiritual ideals, it welcomes boys of all faiths and encourages them to find and strive to uphold the moral values and ideals that make up its vision statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like many private schools in South Africa, Bishops is a powerhouse of academic excellence, consistently outperforming the national matric results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The school differs, however, by administering the National Senior Certificate (NSC) exams rather than the Independent Examination Board (IEB) exams that most other private schools offer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2024, a number of martrics opted to sit for the Cambridge Curriculum A-Levels in place of the NSC for the first time. This continued in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The school’s matric class of 2025 scored a 100% pass rate, with 143 boys writing the NSC examinations. The school had a 98.6% Bachelors pass, with 474 subject distinctions (3.31 per boy).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the Cambridge International GCE AS and A Levels, nine boys wrote, also achieving a 100% pass rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
MichaelHouse<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The other world-class South African school, MichaelHouse, also has a deep and prestigious history in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The school’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

The school was tiny at the start, welcoming just 15 boys in two modest houses at the time, but it has grown to a powerhouse of private schooling, where matrics frequently progress to the top universities worldwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As in previous years, the school’s academic performance shone through in its 2025 matric results, where learners achieved a 100% pass rate and a 99% bachelor\u2019s degree pass rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The boys received 363 distinctions across all subjects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While academic performance is important, the Carfax group noted that its selection for the top global schools moves beyond results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The guide is curated by international experts, with each school recognised for its notable individual footprint in education, including academic standards, facilities, preparation for university entry, unique ethos, and how it sets its pupils up for life beyond academia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Images of Bishops<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Images of MichaelHouse<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two South African private schools have been ranked among the world’s top 150 in the 2025\/26 Schools Index.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":795380,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9876],"tags":[23974,20704,9840,20705],"class_list":["post-846580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-bishops","tag-carfax-education","tag-michaelhouse","tag-the-schools-index"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/846580","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\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=846580"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/846580\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":848312,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/846580\/revisions\/848312"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/795380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=846580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=846580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=846580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}