Cognia-accredited online school
Approved Pearson Edexcel centre, registered with SACAI and the IEB
Homeschooling is legal in South Africa. From Grade R to Grade 9, parents apply to their provincial education department to register their child for home education.
The rules changed when the BELA Act came into force on 24 December 2024. This guide covers who has to register, what the application needs, how assessment works, the curriculum options, 2026 fees and the routes to university.
Yes. Home education has been recognised in law since 1996. The BELA Act kept it and tightened the registration rules.
What BELA changedSection 51 of the South African Schools Act has allowed parents to educate their children at home since the Act was passed in 1996. The Basic Education Laws Amendment Act, known as BELA, replaced that section with a longer and stricter version. President Ramaphosa signed BELA on 13 September 2024, and the whole Act came into force on 24 December 2024.
Compulsory schooling now starts in Grade R, on the first school day of the year in which your child turns six. It ends on the last school day of the year in which they turn 15 or finish Grade 9, whichever comes first. During those years your child must attend a public or registered independent school unless they are registered for home education or the department has exempted them.
The Schools Act does not yet make explicit provision for fully online schools. In a parliamentary reply in early 2026, the Department of Basic Education said it is preparing amendments to include them, along with interim measures for existing online schools. Until those are in place, the rule for the compulsory years is unchanged, and a child who is not at a public or registered independent school needs home education registration, applied for by the parent. The department's June 2025 guidelines expect the parent to stay responsible for the home education programme, with tutors and online providers supporting that work rather than taking it over.
Six changes matter most to families. The Department of Basic Education's guidelines of 12 June 2025 set out how provinces are expected to apply them. They are not legally binding, but they show how the department reads the Act.
Compulsory schooling used to start in Grade 1. It now starts in Grade R, so a family that plans to home educate from the start applies a year earlier than before.
Parents apply to the Head of Department in their province. If the department has not responded within 60 calendar days, the application is deemed approved, as long as you can prove you submitted it. An acknowledgement of receipt does not pause the clock. At the end of the Foundation, Intermediate and Senior Phases you tell the department whether you intend to continue.
The programme must suit your child's age, grade and ability, and predominantly cover content and skills at least comparable to the national curriculum. The guidelines confirm that learners do not have to follow CAPS itself.
A competent assessor must assess your child's attainment at the end of Grade 3, Grade 6 and Grade 9, against a standard no lower than the National Curriculum Statement. You then submit the signed report to the department. The assessor can be a SACE-registered educator, a recognised professional body in education or a person registered with SAQA. The Act does not require quarterly reports, and any extra reports a province asks for are voluntary.
On just cause, and after notifying you, the department may require a pre-registration consultation to check the details in your application. The guidelines say it should happen online, at a provincial or district office or at an agreed venue, with at least five business days' notice and without your child present. Home visits are not a condition of registration and should only take place with your written consent.
Before it refuses or cancels a registration, the department must explain why in writing and give you a fair chance to respond. You can appeal to the provincial MEC for Education within 30 days of the decision, and the MEC has 30 days to decide.
Registration is free, and you apply to your provincial education department yourself. CambriLearn does not submit applications for families.
Forms and provincial contactsIt applies from Grade R until the end of the year in which your child turns 15 or completes Grade 9. From Grade 10 you do not need to apply or notify the department, and your child can carry on at home or enrol at a school for Grades 10 to 12.
The application asks for full details of the educational programme: subjects, teaching hours per subject, how work is assessed, extramural activities, excursions, library use and any tutors. It must suit your child and be comparable in scope to the national curriculum.
The DBE asks for certified copies, no older than three months, of your child's birth certificate, your ID and proof of residence, plus a letter explaining why you want to home educate. If your child was at a school, add their last report and a transfer certificate. Foreign nationals add passports and permits, a learner with special needs adds an assessment or referral letter, and a child in alternative care needs the court order.
Send the provincial application form and documents electronically to the Head of Department. The DBE plans to issue an updated national form, and the existing forms stay valid until it does. Keep the email, reference number or stamped copy, because deemed approval depends on being able to prove you applied.
If the department has not responded within 60 calendar days, the application is deemed approved from the end of that period, and the guidelines encourage the department to issue a registration certificate. If it declines, it must give written reasons, and you have 30 days to appeal to the MEC.
Keep attendance records, a portfolio of work, progress records and evidence of assessment. Arrange the competent assessor's report at the end of Grades 3, 6 and 9, send it in with notice that you intend to continue, and keep assessing regularly in between.
