What it costs to live near South Africa's most prestigious school districts
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Homes in the catchment areas of top Western Cape and Gauteng schools generally cost well over R1 million, with Durbanville averaging about R3 million, new analysis of school districts shows.
Parents seeking homes in the catchment areas of South Africa's most prestigious school districts can expect to spend well over R1 million on a property, according to an analysis by The South African of the country's top-performing school areas.
Within a 40-kilometre radius from Boston in Bellville to Krigeville in Stellenbosch, the Western Cape is home to many of the country's best-performing schools, including Paarl Gimnasium, Paarl Boys High School, Paul Roos Gimnasium, Bloemhof Girls High School, Rhenish Girls High School, La Rochelle Girls School and Fairmont High School in Durbanville.
Data from School Performance, which analyses matric pass rates, places several of these schools in the top 1% nationally, with La Rochelle Girls School maintaining a 100% pass rate over the past decade. In Gauteng, living or working within a prestigious school district is a common acceptance criterion, while Western Cape school governing bodies determine their own admission criteria, sometimes based on catchment residence.
House prices in these areas vary widely. Entry-level homes in catchment areas generally start above R1 million: in Boston, homes are about R2.42 million, in Durbanville about R3 million, while in the sought-after Hoog en Droog suburb of Paarl, home to many top-performing schools, buyers can find homes starting at about R4.95 million.
Although public, the schools are fee-paying, with annual fees ranging from R54,600 at La Rochelle Girls School to R76,200 at Paul Roos Gimnasium. Parents who do not want to move into a catchment area can also draw on the region's extensive list of hostels.