What you need to earn to send your child to the most expensive schools in South Africa – BusinessTech

South Africans wanting to send their children to some of the country’s top private schools will have to earn up to R3 million a year—or R250,000 per month—in 2026.

When parents invest in expensive private schools in South Africa, it seems reasonable to expect exceptional academic performance.

The high tuition fees should translate into a superior educational environment with smaller class sizes, highly qualified teachers, and access to advanced learning resources.

These elements create an optimal setting for academic success, which many cite as a justification for the financial investment.

Parents expect these institutions to provide a robust education that meets and exceeds national standards.

This expectation drives schools to maintain high academic performance, ensuring students are well-prepared for tertiary education and competitive job markets.

BusinessTech looked at how much you would need to earn to send your child to some of the best-performing private schools in the country. As of April 2026, over 2,400 independent schools are registered across South Africa.

This makes it incredibly difficult to ascertain which private schools are ultimately the best-performing in the country. Because of this, we looked at the most expensive and well-known private schools in the country.

These are those that are historically tracked by BusinessTech and which performed the best in their final matric exams for 2025.

The schools tracked are generally those that charge over R140,000 in school fees per annum, with one exception being Midstream College.

Using these schools also provides an earning cap, which means any other private school is likely to be less expensive and, therefore, require a smaller salary.

Interestingly, following the 2025 matric results, the list of the top 10 best-performing private schools featured five all-girls schools, four co-ed schools, and only one all-boys school.

Redhill, a co-ed school, was the top school in the country, reporting an average of 4.30 distinctions per candidate.

This is followed by Roedean School for Girls and Midstream College, which averaged 4.21 and 4.20 distinctions per candidate, respectively.

The top five were rounded out by St Mary’s Waverley and Somerset College, which both achieved 4.15 distinctions per candidate.

The last on the top 10 included Durban Girls’ College, Herschel Girls’ School, King David Linksfield, Kingsmead College, and St John’s College.

How much you need to earn

According to experts, assuming a parent or household hasn’t saved for schooling, it is advisable to allocate no more than 10% to 15% of your annual household income to education expenses.

This would be different in each household. In 2026, at least 13 schools are now charging over R350,000 annually for tuition and boarding.

Hilton College in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands retains its title as the most expensive school in the country. Its annual fees (which only allow for boarding) are R450,893 for 2026, up 5.0% from last year.

Joining Hilton in the elite R400,000-plus category for boarding are Michaelhouse, Roedean School for Girls in Johannesburg, and St Andrew’s College in Makhanda, while St John’s College is toeing the line.

Fee increases for 2026 average 6.4% across the assessed schools, outpacing the inflation rate, which ended 2025 at just 3.5%.

For the purpose of this article, we looked at how much you’d have to earn to send your child to the top three best-performing all-boys, all-girls, and co-ed schools in South Africa, while including Hilton for being the most expensive in the country.

Those who wish to send their child to these top-performing private schools would have to earn between R650,000 and R3 million annually.

The table below shows the top-performing schools tracked by BusinessTech, their average distinctions per candidate for 2025 and how much you need to earn to enrol your child at the school.