Gauteng's most sought-after schools

We all want our children to go to good schools, right? And, let’s face it, some schools are way better than others. Who wants to send their seven-year-old to a school with broken toilets and no sports fields?

And when it comes to high schools, we want our teenagers to get the best chance of passing Grade 12 in a school that has properly stocked science labs, computers and class sizes small enough for teachers to handle.

But what if you can’t get your child into the school you want?

On November 1, when Gauteng’s online registration system opened for late applications for grades 1 and 8 for the 2018 school year, I took a look to see which public school options were available for my youngest, who’s starting high school in 2018. Not one of the four high schools near to where I live, and to which I’d choose to send my child, had places available.

In fact, by November, 402 schools had “received applications beyond their capacity” and were not available for late applications, Panyaza Lesufi, the head of Gauteng’s Education Department (GDE), said in a media statement when the online registration system opened again for late applications.

The GDE posted a PowerPoint document entitled High pressure areas and schools. Schools that are not available for late applications on its website. There were 457 schools on the list, but three of the schools were listed twice, and there were a couple of mistakes in the numbering so altogether there were 451 not-available schools on the list – 248 primary schools, 201 high schools and two “combined schools”. You can see where all the full schools are in an interactive map at the end of this story.

Big demand for a small number of high schools

The most striking thing about the department’s list of “full schools” is how a small number of high schools seem to have received a huge number of applications for grade 8.

According to Lesufi, by 1 November, 98,928 of next year’s grade 8s had been placed in a school. Incredibly, 40,292 applications – 40% of the number that have been placed – were submitted to just 34 high schools.

Each of those high schools received more than 1,000 applications for grade 8. The combined capacity of those 34 schools was just over 8,300, according to the GDE. So more than 20,000 parents who applied to one of those schools at the beginning of this year would have been turned down and their child offered a place in another school.

There are 616 high schools listed on Gauteng’s latest available masterlist, so those 34 really popular schools are just 5% of the high schools.

What’s also interesting is that all these schools, except for one, are fee-paying schools. Phumlani Secondary in Katlehong is the only school that isn’t a former Model C school and it’s the only one that’s a no-fee school.

These are the 34 Gauteng high schools that got more than 1,000 applications for grade 8:

School	Suburb	Municipality	No. of applicants	Capacity	No-fee/ fee-paying?
Boksburg High School	Boksburg	Ekurhuleni	1563	420	Fee-paying
Hoerskool Akasia	Akasia	Tshwane	1525	240	Fee-paying
Mondeor High School	Mondeor	Johannesburg	1515	360	Fee-paying
Pretoria High School for Girls	Arcadia	Tshwane	1512	343	Fee-paying
Alberton High School	Alberton	Ekurhuleni	1473	175	Fee-paying
Sir John Adamson High School	Winchester Hills	Johannesburg	1422	320	Fee-paying
Hoerskool President	Ridgeway	Johannesburg	1350	360	Fee-paying
Northcliff High School	Northcliff Ex 3	Johannesbur	1288	280	Fee-paying
Benoni High School	Benoni	Ekurhuleni	1285	335	Fee-paying
Hoerskool Gerrit Maritz	Pretoria North	Tshwane	1251	200	Fee-paying
Germiston High School	Germiston	Ekurhuleni	1226	245	Fee-paying
Edenvale High School	Edenvale	Ekurhuleni	1198	303	Fee-paying
Lenasia Secondary School	Lenasia	Johannesburg	1182	240	Fee-paying
Rand Park High School	Randpark Ridge	Johannesburg	1154	300	Fee-paying
Krugersdorp High School	Krugersdorp	Johannesburg	1139	280	Fee-paying
Hoerskool Birchleigh	Kempton Park	Ekurhuleni	1137	315	Fee-paying
Hoerskool Langenhoven	Capital Park	Tshwane	1136	319	Fee-paying
Florida Park High School	Florida	Johannesburg	1110	315	Fee-paying
Pretoria Boys’ High School	Brooklyn	Tshwane	1104	320	Fee-paying
Parktown Girls’ High School	Parkview	Johannesburg	1094	210	Fee-paying
Jeppe High School for Girls	Kensington	Johannesburg	1082	207	Fee-paying
Sunward Park High School	Boksburg	Ekurhuleni	1078	385	Fee-paying
Edenglen High School	Edenvale	Ekurhuleni	1072	280	Fee-paying
King Edward VII High School	Houghton	Johannesburg	1071	244	Fee-paying
Hoerskool Suiderlig	Vanderbijlpark	Sedibeng	1064	200	Fee-paying
Willowmore High	Benoni	Ekurhuleni	1046	256	Fee-paying
Jeppe High School for Boys	Kensington	Johannesburg	1035	223	Fee-paying
Rand Meisieskool-Girls School	Parktown	Johannesburg	1033	255	Fee-paying
The Glen High School	Waterkloof Glen	Tshwane	1033	237	Fee-paying
Bryanston High School	Bryanston	Johannesburg	1027	207	Fee-paying
Sutherland High School	Centurion	Tshwane	1027	271	Fee-paying
West Ridge High School	Roodepoort	Johannesburg	1025	315	Fee-paying
Queens High School	Bez Valley	Johannesburg	1023	290	Fee-paying
Phumlani Secondary School	Katlehong	Ekurhuleni	1012	210	No-fee

Popular primary schools

In contrast to the high schools, only three primary schools got more than 1,000 applications each for grade 1 by November: Laerskool Akasia, Laerskool Theresapark and Bryanston Primary School.

These are the 20 Gauteng primary schools that had received the most applications for grade 1 by November 2017:

School	Suburb	Municipality	No. of applicants	Capacity	No-fee/ Fee-paying
Laerskool Akasia	Akasia	Tshwane	1339	200	Fee-paying
Laerskool Theresapark	Theresapark	Tshwane	1080	180	Fee-paying
Bryanston Primary School	Bryanston	Johannesburg	1011	120	Fee-paying
Hamilton Primary School	Pretoria Central	Tshwane	897	97	Fee-paying
Laerskool Silverton	Silverton	Tshwane	877	301	Fee-paying
Alberton Primary School	Alberton	Ekurhuleni	837	160	Fee-paying
Mondeor Primary School	Mondeor	Johannesburg	787	160	Fee-paying
Alston Primary School	Germiston	Ekurhuleni	786	280	Fee-paying
Laerskool Oos-eind	Sunnyside	Tshwane	755	237	Fee-paying
Arcadia Primary School	Arcadia	Tshwane	753	102	Fee-paying
Alberview Primary School	Randhart	Ekurhuleni	748	160	Fee-paying
Selcourt Primary School	Springs	Ekurhuleni	746	200	Fee-paying
Florida Primary School	Florida	Johannesburg	738	160	Fee-paying
Germiston South Primary school	Germiston	Ekurhuleni	713	200	Fee-paying
Constantia Kloof Primary School	Roodepoort	Johannesburg	712	160	Fee-paying
Meredale Primary School	Meredale	Johannesburg	708	160	Fee-paying
Laerskool Danie Malan	Pretoria North	Tshwane	699	194	Fee-paying
Laerskool Rachel De Beer	Pretoria North	Tshwane	686	223	Fee-paying
Horzon View Primary School	Roodepoort	Johannesburg	684	160	Fee-paying
Laerskool Meyerspark	Meyerspark	Tshwane	670	207	Fee-paying

According to Lesufi, 123,450 grade ones and 98,928 grade eights had been placed in a school by November. But that’s only 77% of the 285,834 learners who applied before November. That means more than 60,000 learners who had applied early had yet to be placed in a school.

There’s a lesson in this for parents: if you want to get your child into the school of your choice, apply early.

The interactive map below shows where the schools that were full by November 2017 are (red dots), and where those that were therefore likely to still be open for late applications (yellow dots). Hover over the dots and zoom in to explore the schools yourself.