Financial insights for South Africa

Expert guides on funeral cover, retirement planning and financial products for South Africans — free, unbiased, and never sponsored by a provider.

School Fees

What Independent Schools Charge: A R 43 800 Starting Point, and High School Costs Twice as Much

We collected the published fees of 255 independent schools. The middle starting fee is R 43 800 a year, high schools start at R 67 140 against R 30 015 for primary, and a quarter of them start above R 64 108.

Vulo6 October 20267 min read

School Fees

What Public Schools Charge in 2026, and the Income Where You Stop Having to Pay

We collected 142 fee-charging public schools' own published 2026 fees. The middle one charges R 26 215 a year. Under the national exemption rules, a household earning less than R 262 150 a year qualifies to pay none of it.

Vulo27 Sep 20267 min read

School Fees

Is Your School a No-Fee School? The Quintile Won't Tell You

We checked all 25 500 open schools against every province's no-fee gazette. Quintiles 1 to 3 almost always mean no fees. Quintile 4 is a coin flip: 836 of 1 813 are no-fee.

Vulo21 Sep 20267 min read