Look at the fees: These are the most expensive schools in South Africa

Every parent wants the best education for their children, however, private education in South Africa does not come cheap.

A recent report by Business Insider listing ten of the most expensive schools in the country makes for frightening reading.

The reports shows that it’s cheaper to complete a degree at some of the country’s best universities than a year’s study at some of the country’s top private schools.

The top 10 list has individual school fees exceeding R160 000 per annum, and that's cheap considering that the country’s most expensive school charges in excess of R200 000 per learner.

According to the report from Business Insider, KwaZulu-Natal’s Kearsney College is still the most expensive school in SA. It is a medium high school for boys in Botha’s Hill, a small town situated between Pietermaritzburg and Durban.

Kearsney College increased its annual fees by 4.9% for 2022, according to the Business Insider. This means parents will have to fork out R209 000 for tuition fees in 2022, up from R199 320 this year.

Business Insider also did a comparison which revealed that undergraduate tertiary tuition in commerce, law, or engineering at an institution like the University of Cape Town or the University of the Witwatersrand typically costs between R50,000 to R70,000 a year.

This means that a year of Grade 12 at one of these private day schools costs roughly the same as it would cost to obtain an undergraduate degree in law, commerce, or the arts at some of the top universities in South Africa.

Last year several schools chose not to increase fees or increased them slightly. However, this year most schools in the top ten have increased fees by between 4% and 7.9%. The lowest fee increase in the top ten was at St John's College which is raising fees by 4%.