Country & territory guide

Compare schools across South Africa.

Compare the selected South Africa school collections by campus, senior qualification and educational phase. Johannesburg and Pretoria do not share identical AISJ provision, while Franschhoek’s Bridge House and Pietermaritzburg’s St Charles illustrate different national and Cambridge examination routes. This country comparison helps identify which city collections fit the child’s current studies and intended next step.

32 included profiles · 26 destination collections · 4 dated tuition schedules

This is a selected directory, with different levels of evidence in each collection. Open the named campus profile to check its curriculum phases, review date and sources before contacting admissions.

Planning a school search in South Africa

AISJ’s high-school handbook was directly read but retains 2025–26 dates and unfinished AP/online-course headings. Only its described pathways and transfer-credit review are used; confirm the current cohort offer. Current campus boundaries come from the separately read contact page.

Distinguish Johannesburg and Pretoria campus scope

AISJ’s current contact page places its Johannesburg campus at Knopjeslaagte, Midrand, with Pre-K3 through Grade 12. Pretoria’s Olympus campus continues through Grade 8. Boarding for Grades 8–12 is at Johannesburg. Those boundaries matter for siblings and senior applicants: the Pretoria profile does not establish Diploma teaching or boarding at Pretoria.

The Johannesburg high-school handbook describes an American-style curriculum, an IB Diploma pathway and a High School Programme in the senior years. It also assigns transfer-credit decisions to the school’s principal. The retrieved handbook still displays 2025–26 semester dates, so use its pathway descriptions as dated published evidence and obtain a current cohort course plan. Compare the next-school arrangements after Pretoria’s Grade 8 with a direct senior application to Johannesburg rather than assuming a guaranteed internal place.

Sources: AISJ: current campus addresses, phase limits and boarding location · AISJ: dated 2025–26 high-school pathways and credit review

Compare the NSC and Cambridge senior routes

Bridge House in Franschhoek describes a Grades 10–12 phase leading to the National Senior Certificate examined through the Independent Examinations Board. Its college page identifies English Home Language and Afrikaans or isiXhosa at first additional language level, with a specifically qualified immigrant-concession exception. For a family transferring from abroad, ask the school how language study and subject continuity would be handled for that child; do not treat the exception as a general entitlement for every newcomer.

St Charles College in Pietermaritzburg publishes a boys’ senior sequence from Cambridge IGCSE in Form 4 to AS-level study in Form 5 and different Form 6 choices, including AS, A-level and applied technical pathways. That is a materially different senior comparison from Bridge House’s NSC route. Ask which subjects are taught, which examinations the child would enter and what preparation is required for the chosen pathway. A Cambridge label across the school does not mean that all phases use the same leaving assessment.

Sources: Bridge House: NSC, IEB, languages and college phase · St Charles: Cambridge senior academic pathways

Separate assessment bodies, providers and admission

Umalusi’s official unit information lists the IEB as an accredited assessment body for the National Senior Certificate and separately describes accreditation of independent education providers. The IEB is therefore the assessment-body name in this comparison, while the NSC is the qualification. Accreditation of an assessment body does not itself verify the status of every school using its name. Request the current provider documentation relevant to the exact campus and course where that verification is needed.

For a shortlist crossing Gauteng, the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, retain each campus and examination sequence. Ask the receiving institution about the exact subjects and award, without assuming universal equivalence for NSC, Cambridge, an American diploma or IB courses. Bridge House advises families to obtain course-specific university requirements. Bring previous reports and course descriptions to admissions so that language requirements, assessment gaps and the senior transition can be considered together.

Sources: Umalusi: assessment-body and provider accreditation distinctions · Bridge House: NSC, IEB, languages and college phase

Curriculum pathways recorded across the collection

Each row combines evidence from several profiles. Its phases may be offered at different schools; it does not mean every school provides every phase. Online delivery is listed separately. Open the school profile for its exact route and eligibility.

Documented routes in the included South Africa profiles
Route and delivery	Recorded phases across profiles	Included profiles and source examples
South AfricanOn campus	Early years, Primary, Secondary, Sixth form	26 profiles Bridge House School · Pathway source Clifton School Durban · Pathway source
BritishOn campus	Primary, Secondary, Sixth form	4 profiles The British Academy Pretoria · Pathway source Hilton College · Pathway source
AmericanOn campus	Early years, Primary, Secondary, Sixth form	3 profiles American International School of Johannesburg — Pretoria Campus · Pathway source American International School of Cape Town · Pathway source
IBOn campus	Sixth form	1 profile American International School of Johannesburg · Pathway source
Reggio EmiliaOn campus	Early years	1 profile Reddam House Constantia · Pathway source

Parent questions about South Africa schools

Is IEB the name of a separate leaving qualification?

In these sources, IEB is the assessment body and the National Senior Certificate is the qualification. Umalusi separately describes assessment-body and provider accreditation. Confirm the intended school’s course and provider status individually rather than extending an assessment body’s accreditation to every campus.

Sources: Umalusi: assessment-body and provider accreditation distinctions · Bridge House: NSC, IEB, languages and college phase

Does AISJ Pretoria offer the same senior and boarding provision as Johannesburg?

The current campus page ends Pretoria provision at Grade 8 and locates Grades 8–12 boarding at Johannesburg. Confirm the next-school transition and admissions outcome separately. The Johannesburg senior handbook is dated 2025–26 and requires a current cohort check before relying on its course details.

Sources: AISJ: current campus addresses, phase limits and boarding location · AISJ: dated 2025–26 high-school pathways and credit review

Start with a destination collection

The following collections have the most included profiles. Counts describe directory coverage, rather than local market size or school quality.

View all 26 destination collections

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