The short answer
Anywhere from a few thousand rand a year if you teach from your own materials, to roughly R17 000–R35 000 a year per learner with a full online provider. Add a device, data, and — for Grade 12 — examination body fees, which are separate and catch families out.
“How much does homeschooling cost?” has no single answer, because homeschooling covers everything from a parent teaching from library books to a fully staffed online school. Here is the honest range.
The three broad options
Doing it yourself
You choose or assemble the curriculum, teach it, and mark the work. Cost is materials only — textbooks, workbooks, printing. This is the cheapest route by a distance and the most demanding of your time. It suits a parent who has the hours, the confidence and, ideally, some teaching background.
A curriculum package
You buy a structured curriculum and teach it yourself, with the planning done for you. Mid-range in both cost and effort. You are still the teacher; you are just not the curriculum designer as well.
A full online provider
Lessons, assessment, marking, reports and teacher support are provided. You facilitate rather than teach. In South Africa this typically runs from around R17 000 to R35 000 a year per learner depending on grade and curriculum, usually payable monthly. Saving Grace’s own published fees sit within that range — you can see them broken down by grade here.
The costs people forget
- A device per learner. Two children sharing one laptop does not work for long. A keyboard matters more than raw speed.
- Data or fibre. Video lessons consume real bandwidth. Budget for it monthly.
- Printing. Less than you fear, more than nothing.
- Examination fees in Grade 12. These are charged by the assessment body, are separate from any tuition you pay, and run into the thousands. They are the single most common budgeting shock for homeschooling families. Ask about them in Grade 10, not in Grade 12.
- Prescribed books. Even where digital resources are included, set-work novels and some textbooks may need buying.
- Your time. Not a cash cost, but the real one. Costing homeschooling without it gives a misleading figure.
Where you genuinely save
No school uniform, no school transport, no fundraising, no aftercare, and no extras billed through a school. For families outside the big centres, transport alone can offset a large part of the tuition.
Making it affordable
- Most providers offer monthly payment plans, and a discount for paying the year up front.
- Fees are usually per learner, so a second child roughly doubles the cost — ask about family arrangements before assuming.
- The assessment-only route, where you teach and the provider only marks and reports, costs substantially less than full tuition. It is a genuine middle path that few families know exists.
Working out your own number
Take the annual tuition, add examination fees if you are in the FET phase, add a device amortised over three years, add your monthly data, and divide by twelve. That is your real monthly figure. Compare it against what school is currently costing you including transport and extras — the gap is often smaller than expected, and sometimes runs the other way.
Saving Grace’s current fees, including registration and the SACAI examination costs for Grade 10–12, are set out in full here, and on our main site.