Online preschool in South Africa covers two years of early learning delivered from home: Grade RR for children turning five, and Grade R for children turning six. Both prepare a child for Grade 1. Grade R follows the Department of Basic Education's CAPS Foundation Phase curriculum. Grade RR sits before CAPS begins and functions as a school readiness year.
CambriLearn teaches both. If you are weighing up an online preschool year against a local kleuterskool or a private preschool, this covers what each year involves, what age your child needs to be, and where online delivery works well for a four-year-old and where it does not.
What is Grade RR?
Grade RR is the pre-Grade R year in South African schooling, for children who turn five during the school year. It builds early literacy, early numeracy and fine motor control before a child enters Grade R.
You will also see it called pre-Grade R, Grade 00 or the year before reception. Preschools use the labels loosely and there is no single national naming convention, which is part of why parents struggle to compare one provider against another.
The distinction that matters for planning is not the label. It is whether the year is assessed against a formal curriculum. Grade R is. Grade RR is not.
What age is Grade RR, and how does it compare to Grade R and Grade 1?
Grade 1 admission is set in law. Section 5(4) of the South African Schools Act requires a learner to be six years old, turning seven during that calendar year, to be admitted to Grade 1. Grade RR and Grade R ages follow from that, working backwards a year at a time.
A child born in September will therefore sit in a different school year to a cousin born the following February, even though they are five months apart. If your child's birthday falls close to the June cut-off, raise it during your consultation, because it changes which year they should start.
Is Grade RR part of CAPS?
No. CAPS, the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement published by South Africa's Department of Basic Education, begins at Grade R. The pre-Grade R year falls under a separate framework, the National Curriculum Framework for Children Birth to Four.
This matters when you compare providers. Any preschool advertising "CAPS Grade RR" is using CAPS as a marketing shorthand rather than describing a Department curriculum, because no such document exists. What a good Grade RR year actually does is prepare a child for CAPS Foundation Phase, which is a different and more honest claim.
CambriLearn positions Grade RR as a readiness year for that reason. Grade R onwards follows the CAPS curriculum as published.
Is Grade R compulsory in South Africa?
Yes. The Basic Education Laws Amendment Act, signed in September 2024, moved the compulsory school starting year from Grade 1 to Grade R. Every South African child must now be enrolled in Grade R.
Grade RR remains optional. No law requires a four-year-old to be enrolled anywhere.
That change has a practical consequence for home-educating families that catches people out. A Grade R year now needs to be registered and accounted for in the same way later grades are. Our guide to the BELA Act and homeschooling sets out what the Act requires of parents.
Can a four-year-old learn online?
A four-year-old cannot sit through video lessons, and any provider suggesting otherwise is describing a product built for older children. Online preschool that works for this age group uses the screen for a short daily anchor and moves the learning off it.
In practice a CambriLearn early year runs on printable activity packs, physical manipulatives, storybooks and short guided sessions, with a parent or caregiver alongside. The screen carries the lesson plan and the teacher contact. The child works with pencils, blocks and paper.
This is the honest trade-off of an online preschool year: it asks more of you than dropping your child at a gate does. Families who choose it are usually solving a specific problem rather than looking for convenience.
What does an online preschool year cover?
CAPS Foundation Phase, which Grade R belongs to, is organised into three subjects as published by the Department of Basic Education:
- Languages, covering Home Language and First Additional Language
- Mathematics, covering number concept, patterns, space and measurement
- Life Skills, covering beginning knowledge, creative arts, physical education and personal wellbeing
A readiness year before that concentrates on the foundations those subjects assume: phonological awareness, one-to-one counting, pencil grip, listening, and the gross motor control that has to come before handwriting.
[[PLACEHOLDER: CambriLearn Grade RR subject list. Not yet published. Insert confirmed learning areas and weekly structure once Cecilia signs off. Do not publish invented subject names.]]
For older siblings, our Foundation Phase guide covers Grades R to 7.
Who online preschool suits, and who it does not
Be honest with yourself about the middle column. A decision that looks workable on paper and collapses in week three does not serve your child.
What does online preschool cost in South Africa?
For context on how CambriLearn fees are structured across the school, see our pricing breakdown.
What about Afrikaans?
CambriLearn teaches the Afrikaans CAPS curriculum, KABV, from Grade 1 upwards. Afrikaans-speaking families looking for an early year currently have the English Grade R and Grade RR options, with Afrikaans as Home Language available further up the school, see our pricing breakdown.
How to enrol
Applications for the 2027 school year are open. Enrolment runs through a consultation rather than an online form, because the right starting year depends on your child's birthday, whether they have had any preschool exposure, and how much time you can give the daily session.
Bring your child's date of birth and a rough sense of your weekly availability. Book a consultation and an adviser will work through the options with you.
CambriLearn has taught more than 80,000 students across over 100 countries in more than 20 years of operation. Parents rate the school 4.8 stars across 330+ reviews on Google, Trustpilot, HelloPeter and Facebook. The school is accredited by Cognia and Pearson Edexcel, registered with SACAI and IEB, and NCAA approved.
Frequently asked questions
Is Grade RR the same as pre-Grade R?
Yes. Grade RR, pre-Grade R and Grade 00 all describe the year before Grade R, for children turning five. Preschools use the terms interchangeably.
Does my child need to do Grade RR before Grade R?
No. Grade R is compulsory in South Africa; Grade RR is not. Children who go straight into Grade R are not disadvantaged, though a readiness year helps children who have had no group or structured learning at all.
Can I do Grade R at home and then put my child in a normal school for Grade 1?
Yes. Grade R follows the national CAPS curriculum, so a child completing it through CambriLearn covers the same content as a child in a physical school. Keep the reports and assessment records, because a receiving school will ask for evidence of prior learning.
My child turns five in November. Which year do they start?
Talk to an adviser before you enrol. A late-year birthday sits awkwardly against the June cut-off and the answer depends on whether your child has had any preschool exposure. Getting this wrong costs a year in either direction.
Is online preschool recognised?
Grade R through CambriLearn follows CAPS as published by the Department of Basic Education, and the school is accredited by Cognia and Pearson Edexcel and registered with SACAI and IEB. Grade RR is a readiness year and carries no formal certification anywhere in South Africa, whether taught online or in a physical preschool.
