The small elite private school which costs R300,000 per year and is known for its extreme outdoor activities

Treverton College is a small, elite private school in KwaZulu-Natal, known for its 270-hectare campus that includes a wildlife reserve, as well as its focus on extreme outdoor activities and Christian values.

The school is located in the Drakensberg Midlands, in the small, secluded town of Mooi River.

The area is known for its agriculture, stunning scenery, prestigious racehorse farms, and fly fishing.

Treverton was originally established in 1939 by Peter Binns as Treverton Preparatory School for Boys.

Financial and administrative challenges after Binns’ death in 1957 ultimately led to the school’s closure in 1961.

In 1963, the President of the Baptist Union of South Africa, Rev Dr Sydney Hudson-Reed, resurrected the preparatory school – this time under the name Treverton.

With four other men, including his brother Dr Derek Hudson-Reed, he formed the Treverton Trust to re-establish the school.

The men spent several years raising funds to purchase the property and renovating abandoned buildings.

The school officially reopened in 1964 with 51 pupils, with Derek Hudson-Reed as its headmaster.

Treverton began to rapidly expand in the coming years.

In the 1960s, the local municipality donated 73 acres of land, and the Treverton Trust purchased a neighbouring farm to build a high school.

This would see Treverton’s first matric class graduate in 1970, with Derek Hudson-Reed still headmaster.

Its expansion continued in 1978 when it became a co-educational institution.

By this time, Dr Alan Staples had taken over as headmaster of the College.

Under Staples’ leadership, the school underwent massive changes. In 1982, during apartheid, it adopted a non-racial stance – a move attributed to its Christian principles.

Staples then ensured the school invested heavily in the outdoors. The school established the Treverton Wildlife Area in 2000 and became a pioneer of environmental and outdoor education.

During his time at Treverton – first as headmaster and later as Executive Head – many more milestones were achieved.

An elite equestrian centre was established, astro-turfs and squash courts were built, the school’s dams were expanded for open-water sports, and a Chapel Theatre complex was built – which is now named in his honour.

Treverton today

Today, the elite boarding school sits on a 270-hectare estate, making it one of the largest independent school campuses in South Africa.

The area features wetlands, indigenous forests, and dams, and is home to herds of Blesbok and Zebra, letting the school maintain its strong focus on the outdoors.

It is also packed with elite facilities, including an equestrian centre, open-water swimming dams, wall-climbing facilities, mountain bike trails, and several sports fields.

Through curricula like the Treverton Outdoor Pursuits Awards Scheme (TOPAL), Treverton students engage in extreme physical and survival activities to learn survival, leadership, and physical skills.

This includes multi-day hikes through the Drakensberg, kayaking, orienteering, and mountain biking.

Treverton College is also one of the most expensive schools in South Africa.

It was ranked the 22nd most expensive boarding school in the country, with its 2026 fees coming in at R296,220 per year.

It also featured in the top 50 most expensive day schools in South Africa, at R143,560 per year.

The school remains small, with only a few hundred students and a low learner-to-teacher ratio.

It boasts an unbroken streak of a 100% matric pass rate since 1995. In 2025, it achieved an 83.3% Bachelor’s Degree pass rate.

To this day, the school maintains the original focus set forth by its Baptist founders.

Its website states, “Treverton has always aimed to provide a balanced, well-rounded education based on Christian values to develop leaders for our Nation and Churches.”

Photos of Treverton