St Andrew'S College (Grahamstown)

Broe, St Andrew's College in Grahamstown. GRAHAMSTOWN. They could not even keep the name of the town, it is now Makhanda, but St Andrew's is still out there acting like it is 1855 and the British Empire is doing just fine. Six hundred kilometres from anywhere useful, in a town so small that the biggest event of the year is probably when a new robot gets installed. Very colonial energy. Very "we still iron our blazers" energy. Now let us talk about these fees because I need a moment. Grade 12 is R183,180. A YEAR. Broe that is not school fees, that is a deposit on a plot in Brackenfell. And for what? To send your boy to the Eastern Cape, surrounded by 431 other boys, no girls in sight, with a Christian ethos keeping everyone in check. That 6.2 to 1 learner ratio means every teacher is basically your personal therapist, your coach, your housemaster AND watching you at chapel on Sunday. There is nowhere to hide. You cannot even fake sick because the ratio is so tight someone will notice before you finish the lie. Seventy educators for 432 boys. In Makhanda. With a Christian ethos. That is not a school, that is a very expensive monastery with rugby posts. Overall verdict: St Andrew's will turn your boy into a confident, well-spoken, disciplined young man, and it will only cost you a small house in the Western Cape to find out.