What is the quintile system?
South Africa's quintile system classifies every public school from 1 to 5 based on the economic circumstances of the community it serves. Quintile 1 schools serve the most disadvantaged communities, Quintile 5 the least. The classification determines how much government funding the school receives and whether it may charge mandatory school fees. Quintiles describe a school's context, not its quality.
What does each quintile mean?
| Quintile | Community | School fees |
|---|---|---|
| Q1 | Most disadvantaged | No mandatory fees |
| Q2 | Second most disadvantaged | No mandatory fees |
| Q3 | Middle band | No mandatory fees |
| Q4 | Less disadvantaged | May charge fees |
| Q5 | Least disadvantaged | May charge fees |
Q1–3 nationally designated no-fee. Provinces may extend no-fee to Q4–5 schools. All public schools must offer fee exemptions. Funding set annually by the Department of Basic Education.
Quintile 1 schools serve the most economically disadvantaged communities and receive the highest government funding per learner. They cannot charge mandatory fees. Quintile 2 schools are the second most disadvantaged, also receiving high per-learner funding and no mandatory fees. Quintile 3 schools are in the middle band: still no-fee, with above-average government funding. Quintile 4 schools receive lower government funding and may charge fees, though many have been declared no-fee by their provincial department. Quintile 5 schools serve the least disadvantaged communities, receive the lowest per-learner government allocation, and may charge school fees.
What do quintiles mean for school fees?
Quintile 1, 2, and 3 schools are designated no-fee schools: they cannot charge mandatory school fees and receive higher per-learner government funding to cover their costs. Quintile 4 and 5 schools may set their own fees, but in practice many have also been declared no-fee by their provincial department. In the Western Cape alone, over 200 Q4 and Q5 public schools have been declared no-fee (as of 2025). Regardless of quintile, every public school is required by law to offer fee exemptions to families who cannot afford fees.
How is a school's quintile determined?
Quintiles are reviewed when updated census data becomes available. Provincial education departments may adjust boundaries to reflect local conditions.
Each school is assigned a poverty score based on the economic profile of its surrounding area, using national census data on household income, income dependency ratio (unemployment rate), and literacy. Schools are then placed into one of five quintile bands based on this score. The quintile reflects the school's location and community, not how it performs. Provincial education departments may adjust quintile boundaries to reflect local conditions, and quintiles are reviewed when new census data becomes available.
What quintiles do NOT tell you
A school's quintile reflects its community's economic circumstances, not the quality of teaching, the dedication of educators, or outcomes for learners. A Quintile 1 school may have exceptional educators and strong community support. A Quintile 5 school faces its own pressures. On SchoolSeek, peer percentile rankings are always calculated within quintile groups: a school's position only means something compared to schools in the same quintile, phase, and province. Our compare tool lets you place any schools side by side, but a high pass rate at a Q1 school and a high pass rate at a Q5 school reflect very different circumstances.
How do quintiles apply to independent schools?
Independent (private) schools are not assigned a quintile. The classification applies only to public schools funded by the government. On SchoolSeek, independent schools are grouped separately in peer comparisons and their profiles show "Quintile N/A".
Sources
- South African Schools Act 84 of 1996
- Norms and Standards for School Funding — Government Gazette No. 18546, 1998 (amended 2006)
- Department of Basic Education — EMIS database
More Guides
Data sourced from the Department of Basic Education EMIS database. Read our full methodology