Top private school in South Africa’s richest square-mile with 4.27 distinctions per matric

The richest square-mile in Africa isn’t just home to South Africa’s most prominant businesses and luxurious real-estate, it is also the location of three of the best private schools in the country. 

Three schools in Sandton are in South Africa’s top 10 private schools, based on 2024 matric results. 

These are: Redhill School, St. Stithians Girls College, and Crawford International Sandton. 

Sandton central houses over 10,000 businesses, including 14 of the JSE’s top 100 companies by market capitalisation. 

It is the location of choice for the continent’s most prominent financial institutions, legal firms and luxury hotels. 

Sandton is the seventh most expensive suburb in South Africa, according to the Seeff Property Group, and the most expensive outside of Cape Town. 

The average house price for the area is R16.5 million in 2025, more expensive than the average house in Camps Bay or Waterfront in Cape Town. 

For this hefty pricetag, residents of Sandton have convenient access to three schools in the top 10 secondary institutions with the highest distinction rates for matrics. 

Redhill school, dating back to 1907, takes the 10th spot on this list, with an average of 3.50 distinctions per candidate.

St Stithians Girls College ranked as the eighth-best performing private school with an average of 3.62 distinctions per matric. 

Known for producing some of the country’s top athletes, St Stithians College began as a boys’ college in 1953, but a girls college was added on to the Sandton property in 1995.

Finally, the third-best private school in the country, Crawford International Sandton, received 4.27 distinctions per candidate, making it the second-best performing co-ed private school in South Africa.

The ADvTech-owned school is part of the Crawford International school network.

The company also operates Crawford International schools in Bedfordview, Brynston, Fourways, La Lucia, Lonehill, North Coast, Pretoria, and Ruimsig.

Big money

Crawford International Sandton is located in the heart of the suburb, built over 20 years ago.

Apart from its impressive academic achievements, the school also offers students an array of extracurricular activities, including Swimming, equestrian, tennis, soccer, cricket, basketball and netball. 

The school takes a relaxed approach to its uniform, allowing students to mix and match elements of the casual uniform daily. 

The first Crawford International School was built in 1993, and has since grown to become the biggest private school organisation in the country.

There are 19 Crawford schools across South Africa, with one in Nairobi, Kenya. 

All of Crawford’s South African schools boast a 100% pass rate. The school said that a key contributor to its high distinction rate is the Crawford Matric preparation programme, which begins when learners are in grade 10. 

The Sandton school nurtures children from Grade 0000 to Grade 12 at its Benmore property. 

Students can choose between a selection of 20 subjects in their high school years, with each child timetabled individually according to their subject requirements. 

For the facilities, top results and strong reputation of Crawford International, however, school fees are not cheap. 

Crawford Sandton’s fees rose by 7% in 2025, with the cost for one child for one year coming to R202,840. 

In 2026, fees for a student in matric will rise to R212,000. According to Payscale, the average salary for an employee in Sandton is R26,916.

Paying Crawford International Sandton’s 2026 school fees of R22,310 per month would therefore take up almost R83% of the average salary. 

---

More photos from Crawford International Sandton

---