What it will cost to educate your child

City Press has calculated what it will cost parents to educate a child starting in
Grade R this year and graduating in 2031.
We looked at three education streams: private schooling; top former Model C
schools; and an average state-run, fee-paying school.
The schools we based our gures on were St Stithians College, a private
school in Johannesburg attended by both boys and girls, and Blairgowrie
Primary School and Bryanston High School, both middle- to upper-income
former Model C schools in Joburg. School fees were based on the average
contained in the Federation of School Governing Bodies of SAs annual report.
It is widely reported that the fees of private and former Model C schools
increase by an average of 10% a year, and so we adjusted annual fee increases
accordingly. We also included stationery and uniform costs, the prices of which

High school

Primary school

Stationery

Primary school
High school

Uniform

TOTAL

R325

R7 603

R130

R8 058

2017: Grade 1

R345

R7 462

R690

R8 497

2018: Grade 2

R365

R8 209

R731

R9 305

2019: Grade 3

R387

R9 030

R775

R10 192

2020: Grade 4

R410

R9 932

R822

R11 165

2021: Grade 5

R435

R10 926

R871

R12 232

2022: Grade 6

R461

R12 018

R923

R13 403

2023: Grade 7

R489

R13 220

R979

R14 688

2024: Grade 8

R800

R25 629

R1 387

R27 816

2025: Grade 9

R848

R28 192

R1 100

R30 140

2026: Grade 10

R899

R1 166

R33 076

2027: Grade 11

R953

R1 236

R36 301

2028: Grade 12

R1 010

TOTAL

R7 727

R31 011
R34 112
R37 523

R38 533

R234 868

R10 811

School fees

Upper-income former Model C school

R253 404

Uniform

TOTAL

2016: Grade R

R600

R20 105

2017: Grade 1

R636

R18 920

R2 330

R21 886

2018: Grade 2

R674

R20 159

R2 470

R23 303

2019: Grade 3

R715

R22 174

R2 618

R25 507

2020: Grade 4

R631

R24 392

R2 775

R27 798

2021: Grade 5

R669

R26 831

R2 942

R30 442

2022: Grade 6

R709

R29 514

R3 118

R33 341

2023: Grade 7

R752

R3 305

R36 522

2024: Grade 8

R2 765

R5 019

R80 344

2025: Grade 9

R1 081

R2 700

R83 597

2026: Grade 10

R1 146

R2 862

R89 602

2027: Grade 11

R1 215

R3 034

R98 402

2028: Grade 12

R1 288

TOTAL

R12 880

Stationery

Primary school

Average fee-paying school

For universities, we looked at the cost of a Bachelor of Arts degree at three

institutions the University of Cape Town, Wits and Unisa. We factored in
approximate book and stationery costs, which were adjusted for ination at 6%.
Our university fees for 2029 the year our current Grade Rs will begin tertiary
education were calculated on the basis of a 6% increase in fees per year. This
was what Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande capped university
increases at last year, before the decision to scrap this years increase was
made.
The costs reected in this graphic represent a best-case scenario. There are
still textbooks and sports equipment to buy, school tours to pay for, and lost
stationery and uniforms to replace. Good luck, parents of 2016s Grade Rs.
Youre going to need it

2016: Grade R

Stationery

High school

School fees

we hiked by 6% a year, the current ination rate. For stationery, we took the
school stationery requirements lists issued by upper-income former Model C
schools and crunched the numbers using prices from a well-known stationery
retailers website. This we added to both top Model C school fees and those of
private schools. For lower-income schools, we got rid of the more luxury items,
such as expensive scientic calculators, pricy art supplies and expensive books.
As we were not able to identify an average textbook list, we excluded
textbook costs from the fees.
With regards to uniforms, we included one set of basic uniforms, a pair of
shoes every year and one blazer to last the entire high school career. In the
case of low-income schools, we went to cheaper clothing stores, included
fewer basic items and excluded blazers.

2016: Grade R

R600

2017: Grade 1

R636

2018: Grade 2

R674

2019: Grade 3

R715

2020: Grade 4

R631

2021: Grade 5

R669

2022: Grade 6

R709

2023: Grade 7

R752

2024: Grade 8

R2 765

2025: Grade 9

R1 081

2026: Grade 10

R1 146

2027: Grade 11

R1 215

2028: Grade 12

R1 288

TOTAL

R12 880

R20 705

R32 466
R72 560
R79 816
R85 594
R94 153
R103 569

R104 857

R630 253

School fees

R676 306

R33 173

Private school

Uniform

Boarding fees

R78 910

TOTAL
R79 510

R86 801
R95 481
R119 510
R131 461
R144 607
R178 626
R196 489

R2 330

R89 767

R2 470

R98 625

R2 618

R122 843

R2 775

R134 867

R2 942

R148 218

R3 118

R182 453

R3 305

R200 545

R11 245

R251 807
R276 988
R304 686
R335 155

R179 731

R445 548

R3 500

R197 704

R479 273

R3 710

R217 475

R527 017

R3 933

R239 222

R579 525

R263 144

R633 103

R1 097 276

R3 721 293

R368 671
R2 569 192

R41 946

Tertiary education (Standard BA degree)

UCT
Books and
stationery

Wits
2029: First year

R17 126

2029: First year

R17 126

2029: First year

R19 980

2030: Second year

R18 154

2030: Second year

R18 154

2030: Second year

R21 179

2031: Third year

R19 242

2031: Third year

R19 242

2031: Third year

R131 300

2029: First year

Tuition

Unisa

2030: Second year

R139 178

2031: Third year

R147 528

Total: R472 528

2029: First year

R96 020

2030: Second year

R101 781

2031: Third year

R107 888

Total: R360 211

2029: First year

R22 450
R39 675

2030: Second year

R42 056

2031: Third year

R44 579

Total: R189 918

GEORGE VON BERG, Graphics24