Best schools in Pretoria
Education in Pretoria
Considering Pretoria is home to so many foreign workers, not least the well-travelled staff of non-governmental and inter-governmental offices (the United Nations and its many branches, such as UNICEF, UNESCO and UNHCR, all have large, regional outposts here), it is surprising that there are so few good international schools in the immediate area, especially for older children (age 13 to 18).
Those moving here longer term may consider the public or private schools offering the South African curriculum leading to the IEB (privately examined by the Independent Examination Board) or, less commonly, the NSC (government administered) ‘matriculation’ certificate instead. Some of these schools have a reasonable contingent of international families, or at least families with a global outlook, and perhaps a second passport. While in theory a second African language (most popularly Afrikaans, isiXhosa or isiZulu) is required, exemptions can be granted for overseas arrivals in certain circumstances, and often a European language taken instead. Read our article on the South African IEB for full details.
The academic year
The school year runs from January to December, with the long holiday over Christmas (the South African summer), and only two or three weeks off in June/July, when many international families want to head north to spend time with families and friends during the northern hemisphere summer break. It’s a bigger problem for international families with older kids moving from one system to the other, especially with the two-year IGCSE, A level and IB diploma courses with children having to either join halfway through a school year or repeat a year.
Lycée Jules Verne and American International School of Johannesburg (AISJ), both of which only have primary/middle school campuses in Pretoria, have adopted the northern hemisphere’s school calendar.
Choosing a school in Pretoria
Pretoria is not a huge city, and most diplomats and other international families live in the well-to-do areas in the east, around Waterkloof and Brooklyn, where many of the Embassies and High Commissions are found, or else further out of the city in Silver Lake, a ‘secure golf and wildlife estate’, where kids can play in the street and teenagers walk or cycle alone to their friends’ houses.
Not surprisingly, the favoured schools are concentrated in these areas too, but traffic is such that it can take 30-40 minutes to drive what looks like a short distance on the map. When meandering school bus routes and load shedding are factored in (planned power cuts for two hours at a time to protect the national grid, which knocks out the numerous traffic lights), this can mean children having to leave home in Waterkloof at 6.30 or 7am to get to class on time.
Courtney House, in Brooklyn, was acquired in early 2023 by the large Curro Group of schools, and is popular with a wide range of families attracted by the prestigious Cambridge curriculum leading to IGCSE, AS and A levels. It’s a small school with limited facilities and opportunities for sport, but parents say teachers are dedicated and accessible, building up a great relationship with students as then progress up the grades.
The main alternative for the Cambridge curriculum is The British Academy, just up the road, which is even smaller. Both senior schools are often described as ‘office schools’ locally, as their buildings resemble office blocks (though Courtney’s separate primary school has a small but well-designed playground wrapping around the whole of the building, complete with bike track, jungle gym and pirate ship for the little ones).
The Deutsche Internationale Schule Pretoria (confusingly, not connected to the Deutsche Internationale Schule Johannesburg) is an obvious choice for German-speaking families and is located on the way out of town towards Silver Lakes. There are German and English streams, but non-German speakers can only enter in grade 5, and the English stream is small. There’s the option of taking the International German Abitur combined with the South African NSC matriculation certificate, or the English-language NSC with a German language diploma.
The small but beautiful Pretoria campus of Lycée Jules Verne, authorised and subsidised by the French government, is an obvious choice for francophones and francophiles, but once children reach grade 5 (CM20) they have to move to the larger site in Johannesburg, where they take the French baccalaureate only.
The other popular international curriculum school is the Pretoria elementary and middle school campus of the American International School of Johannesburg, with children again having to commute to the huge Jo’burg campus when they hit high school age. While AISJ Pretoria has great facilities, it’s expensive compared to other international schools here (the principal says it’s benchmarked against other international American schools worldwide), and in the American system children start to read and write later than in the UK.
Increasingly, if these schools don’t fit the brief, or the budget, parents are turning to Crawford International Pretoria. One of nine Crawford schools, part of ADvTECH, Africa’s ‘leading private schools provider’, it says. The only one located in Pretoria, it offers the IB primary years programme (PYP) up to age 12, followed by the IEB matriculation, plus great sporting facilities and other extra-curricular opportunities on a large green campus.
Some families, especially those planning on living here longer term, or South African families moving back to the country, consider Waterkloof House Preparatory School (referred to as WHiPS), which now welcomes girls in pre-school, but runs a waiting list for its boys-only prep (age 6 to 13). For high school, it’s St Alban’s College (boys only) or its sister school St Mary’s Diocesan School for Girls (St Mary’s DSG) from age 3 to 18. This well-respected, self-declared ‘family of schools’ offers a high standard for reasonable fees.
Some excellent state schools locally, especially Pretoria Boys High and Pretoria High School for Girls, but even these levy a fee to generate extra income. Known for academic and sporting standards, they are firmly South African, leading to the NSC matriculation certificate.
Special education needs in Pretoria
Most of these schools say that they cater for children with special educational needs on a case-by-case basis and will admit a child as long as they think they can provide the necessary support to allow him or her to thrive in their school. Most schools will allow and organise a one-on-one facilitator if required, paid for by the parents.
AISJ (Pretoria), which has one of the largest SEN departments, offers personalised learning to support children with 'intellectual and developmental disabilities' who require a modified curriculum, which may not leave to traditional leaving qualification.
Pre-schools, kindergarten and nurseries in Pretoria
Schooling in South Africa is not compulsory until the year a child is turning six (grade R/0). Most families will want to start their child much younger than this, and many schools, particularly the international ones, have pre-schools attached.
Another option is to choose from the plethora of private pre-schools dotted around the city, often run out of residential homes and catering for a handful of children, just ask for recommendations locally and check it’s properly registered with the authority.
Hedgerows in Waterkloof is a large pre-school popular with the diplomatic community and great for working parents, looking after little ones from 7am to 5pm all year round apart from the December school holidays. Although reading is not generally taught until grade 1 (turning seven) in local state schools, Hedgerows teaches phonics (in grade 000) and starts with reading for those ready (from grade 00), helping them to enter the international schools in grade 0 (turning six) or grade 1 on a par with classmates who have come from the UK system.
