Get series: South Africa’s best schools guide

Do you have school application PTSD? It’s time for some exposure therapy … with a twist. We’ve toured seven of the best high schools and universities on Showmax now, and we’re here to be your guide. If you’re already enrolled at Showmax, there are no additional fees and no entrance exams. And you won’t have to fill in any additional paperwork to attend, or send your kids there. So come visit with us and decide where you’d like to spend your next term.

1. Olifantsfontein High Boarding School as seen in Youngins Seasons 1-2

Note: Only available on Showmax in South Africa

Province: Gauteng

A remodelled former Model-C boarding school, Olifantsfontein is remarkable for the degree of self-expression students are allowed, and its support of a variety of gender expressions. Seen by some as a last-chance school, Olifantsfontein has weathered a number of recent scandals, including a student suicide, an exposé of sexual grooming and abuse that went viral on social media, and the outbreak of a deadly fire at the beginning of 2025. There have been some concerns raised about rumours of drug and alcohol abuse, and even claims of prostitution. 

Academics: Catering to high school students aged between 13 and 18, Olifantsfontein draws students from a wide range of financial backgrounds and accommodates students on full scholarships, subject to academic performance. The staff is small, but dedicated to their jobs and to fostering a culture of mutual respect. It must be noted with concern, however, that students in their Matric year seem unable to grasp the basic grade eight material (or even more junior) that is being taught in the classrooms.  

Faculty: Senior mathematics teacher Principal Ramathuba replaced Principal Mthembu for the 2025 school year following Principal Mthembu’s arrest in connection with allegations of child grooming and sexual exploitation. And while African languages teacher Pearl provides students with much-needed additional life guidance, the relaxed atmosphere in her class sometimes comes at the expense of learning and academic achievement.

Grounds and facilities: A remodelled former Model-C school, Olifantsfontein boasts central stone buildings with established and well maintained gardens, with student accommodation in the newer brick additions. The grounds are enclosed and there is strict security control to prevent students from slipping out to clubs in the neighbouring town, while certain students are subject to a bag-check on returning for the new term. Pats of the school are run down, with the boys’ dorm, especially, looking as if it reeks of unwashed sports equipment. Head Matron Lulu has been in charge of the girls dormitory for the past 20 years, while Principal Ramathuba heads up the boys’ block. The boys’ dormitory is currently under repair. 

Student life: School sports include netball, athletics and soccer. While the school turns out to support the boys’ football team, the same does not apply to the girls’ netball team.

Individuality and self expression are encouraged, and students will be able to find many groups who share their interests. The LGBTQIA+ community are active in student life, with an established school club. 

2. Deacon College as seen in Trompoppie

Province: Western Cape

One of Cape Town’s most prestigious Afrikaans-medium co-ed private schools, Deacon College is perhaps best known for its award-winning drum majorette squad, the Trompoppies. The school however, suffered a major scandal in the 2024 academic year as it hit the news when six of seven Trompoppies died under suspicious circumstances in what became known as the Deacon College Murders. If the uniform makes you think of the horror film M3GAN, you’re not wrong. 

Academics: Deacon College caters to students from grade eight to Matric and an excellent academic record (or fat stacks of parental cash) is required for admission. 

Faculty: Principal Kate Basson sets a rigorous standard, but should have reconsidered hiring handsome Trompoppie squad coach Mr Hurley (also the woodwork teacher), the subject of many a schoolgirl (and boy) crush. As principal, Kate’s day to day involves being like a King Kong swatting away a hoard of helicopter parents.

Grounds and facilities: Set in sprawling grounds with established trees and turn of the century stone buildings, Deacon College has spared no expense on facilities, from its movie-style theatres, to its Olympic-level gymnasium. The drum majorette programme is strongly supported by parents who believe that it distinguishes Deacon College from other “basic, borning” private schools. However the boys’ hockey squad often takes precedence when it comes to allocating facilities. More funds have had to be invested on maintenance after the body of a missing student was dug up in a coffin on the main sports field.

Student life: Deacon College students are driven and focussed and there is a culture of high achievement in sports. But encouraging the students’ competitive spirit unchecked – in opposition to the school motto “Bene Per Cooperante” (leadership through cooperation) – has fostered a toxic culture of bullying that’s egged on by the rich parents.

3. Phelumoya Secondary as seen in Is’Thunzi Seasons 1-2

Province: KwaZulu-Natal

Where do you go to school after the “evil” of big city teen rebellion has been exorcised from your body with a sjambok and the closed bible that was used to beat you? The Phelumoya Secondary School in Bergville has a name that means “to lose all hope”, but its students are eternally hopeful. It is open to those who might not otherwise find a school placement. So for some students battling teen motherhood, Phelumoya is a chance to change their fate and win freedom. 

Academics: Phelumoya is a Zulu-medium co-ed school catering to pupils from grade eight to Matric, following a standard government curriculum. It has an undistinguished record academically, but a school’s reputation is about more than symbols on paper. 

Faculty: The teachers like Mr Mabaso do their best to reward the studious and convey their disappointment with academic slackers but their greatest qualifications aren’t on paper – they’re in the lifelong training it takes to face challenges seldom encountered at rich private schools, including the trauma suffered by students who’ve seen a mother stripped naked, stoned and necklaced for witchcraft. The teachers make an effort to engage with students and hold open conversations, as they discreetly navigate caring for their students in a community that doles out violent, extreme punishments in the name of love and control. 

Grounds and facilities: While Phelumoya is typical of many rural government schools – located in a series of small plastered brick classroom buildings with a bare, dusty playground under eucalyptus trees (and excitement provided by the occasional snake) – the classrooms are clean, in good repair, there are enough desks for the students, and there are no issues with overcrowding. PS: The school uniform colours are green and gold but instead of giving Springbok, they give snuffbox.

Student life: The male students frequently sexually harass and belittle the female students unchecked, continuing the cruel sexualisation and predation that many suffer at home and from the older men in the community. But where you find other students determined to pursue their education against all odds, you will find friends. It just takes a Sarafina to ignite a youth movement, and Phelumoya’s Sarafinas are the Ninjas, four young women with dark secrets, big dreams and bigger hearts. They’re ready to turn those Fs on their tests into a Fabulous. 

4. Arendsvlei High School as seen in Arendsvlei Seasons 1-6

Province: Western Cape

Afrikaans-medium, semi-private, high school Arendsvlei is the heart and soul of its local Cape Flats community. The intimate connection between the teachers, who’re drawn from the community, and the students, is essential for the learning environment that is able to navigate students’ issues, whether religious, financial or cultural. But there are moments when violence in the local community spills over into the school, and some promising students have had lives and future careers cut short because of school shootings, teen pregnancy, and gangsterism.

Academics: While it’s not a government school, Arendvlei is in step with the national curriculum for students from grade eight to Matric. There is a strong focus on academic excellence, with a “no student left behind” attitude that emphasises individual nurturing of talented students in non-academic skills.

Faculty: The school is owned and was co-founded by the Cupido family, and is now owned by its dedicated mathematics teacher, Thys Cupido. It continues to be a family affair for many of the faculty including teachers like Ronel. Vice-principal (co-founder and sometime principal) Beatrice Abrahams (Thys’s sister) has poured her heart and soul into creating a safe learning environment for the students, but there have been issues with the likes of Principal David Abrahams (Beatrice’s husband) seeming more concerned with pursuing his own power and building his CV, than in building up the school. 

Grounds and facilities: The heart of the school, in this case, is in the students and teachers rather than in old buildings or established grounds. 

Student life: Whatever is happening in the local community will be reflected in the issues experienced in the student body. You won’t find many cynics at Arendsvlei, as the students throw themselves heart first into everything from high school romance, to sporting and political ambitions. 

5. Eike University as seen in: Wyfie Seasons 1-2

Province: Gauteng

If you’re looking for echoes of the old South Africa, you can find them at Eike University in Stellenbosch. Aside from the rich kids who get away with anything, you’ll find legacy students clinging tooth and claw to privilege, especially in the res buildings. The student body and staff are still disproportionately white.

Academics: Lectures and study require fluent Afrikaans. But despite its obvious social issues, Eike offers a world-class standard of education in a wide array of specialities including actuarial science, chemical engineering, dramatic arts, and politics, philosophy and economics (the politician’s breakfast). 

Faculty: Staff including Professor van der Merwe, Rektor Scutte, Dr Jonker, and Professor Akinyemi encourage independent thought and set a rigorous standard for students. There have been some concerns, though, about the predatory behaviour of certain male members of the faculty.

Grounds and facilities: Think Herbert Baker special. There are gorgeous old grounds and lanes lined with oak trees. Old money has gone into establishing and maintaining the laboratories and lecture halls. Professors still have their individual offices, and the library is a treasure, if you can ignore students who’re streaking through it on a dare. The facilities encourage a well-rounded student body with a dual emphasis on physical and mental training. 

Student life: Rampant misogyny is still prevalent in the ongoing battles between men’s residences like Leo (which maintains its pecking order through traditions that hinge on assault and sexual humiliation) and women’s residences like Pantera, with male students dismissively referring to first-year female students as “wyfie”.  And the Prim Camp exposes the university’s ongoing Old Boys network issues. The res students’ traditional jags-aand initiation has its roots in the 1980s, when Eike men’s res students physically hunted down mixed-race students and chased them off campus, a fact that university newspaper Die Stam is complicit in covering up. 

6. St Agnes as seen in The Girl from St Agnes

Province: KwaZulu-Natal

Elite Anglican girls’ boarding school St Agnes is nestled in the rolling hills of the rural Natal midlands. The school boasts a staff of keen young teachers who aim to develop the students on all levels, including spiritually. While the students and teachers look to the future, the old South Africa is present in many parents’ racism and misogyny, which carries through into the student body, as well as in the racial composition of the staff and student body. The school’s get-along-at-all-costs and fix-it-with-prayer mentality leaves the victims of these attitudes trying to navigate them alone. The school also seems underprepared for the advent of social media, and the impact of cellphone use on the girls’ mental health. St Agnes hit the news in 2019 after a student’s alleged suicide exposed the school’s deeper issues. 

Academics: St Agnes caters to privileged students between grade 8 and Matric and aims to encourage academic achievement and independence among the student body, grooming them to think beyond being the wives of tomorrow, to becoming leaders in business as well as social life. 

Faculty: The school’s principal and chaplain, Chris Whitaker, heads the school with a deep sense of compassion. As well as fostering academic excellence, the dedication and caring of teachers is notable, with staff forging personal connections with students to help guide and mentor them. In the case of drama teacher Kate Ballard though, this connection, unfortunately, crossed from academic to sexual. 

Grounds and facilities: Boasting extensive grounds, this private school was founded in the late 1800s and retains some of its original, classic Natal architecture, including its red brick buildings with their wood and cast iron detailing, and green tin roofs. 

Student life: The isolated location of the school has led to strong bonding between the students themselves, but the pairing with the nearby brother school has led to problematic incidents thanks to the boys’ sense of entitlement. And the isolation occasionally turns the school into an emotional pressure cooker, while the culture of perfectionism has driven some students into repressing, and unhealthy acting out. 

7. Saint Sebastians as seen in Grassroots

Province: Gauteng

Private all-boys boarding school Saint Sebastian’s promises to train the leaders of tomorrow using the tools of the past. While the school boasts about academics, the focus is very much on sports, particularly rugby, as the school offers rugby scholarships to promising athletes, and has been seen actively scouting schools as far afield as Butterworth in the Eastern Cape for new talent.

Academics: Catering to high school students from grade eight to Matric, the school attracts high profile students from around the country, including the heirs of royal houses. The standard of education, however, is not what it could be, and certainly not in line with the fees charged, thanks to an overemphasis on sporting achievement at the expense of all else. 

Faculty: Pearl Busika is the first-ever female principal of Saint Sebastians, and she’s determined to root out the toxic, authoritarian attitudes that are damaging the mental health of the students in her care, and preventing them from turning out balanced and well-rounded learners. However, head of rugby, Coach Viljoen, and the all-male department heads have closed ranks against Principal Busika in favour of running what amounts to a rugby academy. As a result, the school has lost top, qualified, Black heads of departments who’ve left after failed attempts to push back against the school’s entrenched culture. 

Grounds and facilities: Set in 100-year-old Victorian-era buildings in well-established grounds with old trees, Saint Sebastian’s offers everything the parents of rich, pampered youth could ask for. If it weren’t for the students and teachers, it would be a paradise of learning. 

Student life: Saint Sebastians fosters an atmosphere of competitive hypermasculinity, with a win-at-all-costs mentality. The school’s unwritten rules are enforced by the prefects, who’re given plenty of latitude to choose their tactics, as they bully and belittle students into compliance, often using physical force that leans into assault during initiation rituals. There have been reports of everything from racist and culturally insensitive slurs, to a drowning incident during which a student was thrown into the pool inside a metal locker.

Also watch

Dinge van n Kind: Hop in the time machine and travel back to boarding school in the 1970s in this series based on Marita van der Vyver’s classic novel of the same name. 

Spooksoeker: Does your school boast a haunted library? How about a sinister swimming pool? Call Hoërskool Sekelrivier’s teen ghost hunter Warno for help. Based on the bestselling young adult novels by François Bloemhof. New episodes air Thursdays.

Reënboogrant: Desiré Gardner has adapted and updated Louise van Niekerk’s bestselling 90s young adult novels in this Showmax Original telenovela. The series centres on the Matric students at Hoërskool Reënboogrant in Tshwane. New episodes air on Wednesdays.