What SchoolSeek is
SchoolSeek is an information service. We publish profiles of South African schools built from official Department of Basic Education data so that parents can find and compare schools. We are not affiliated with the Department of Basic Education, with any provincial education department, or with any school listed on this site. Nothing here is advice about which school to choose.
Where the data comes from
School records come from the Department of Basic Education's EMIS dataset. Matric results come from the DBE's NSC School Performance Report and NSC School Subject Report. We process that data — cleaning it, adding geographic detail, and grouping schools for comparison — but we do not create the underlying facts, and we do not speak for the Department. Every figure and its source is set out on our methodology page.
The data may be wrong, and sometimes is
We take accuracy seriously and check our data against independent sources, but we cannot guarantee that every record is correct or current. Official data contains errors: in July 2026 we found and corrected 461 school records where the Department's own publications disagreed with each other, and we publish a log of every such correction. Records can also be out of date. The school register currently reflects the Department's EMIS Q3 2025 extract and matric results cover the 2025 exam year — those are the most recent editions the Department has published, but they are not a live feed, and the Department publishes new ones periodically rather than on a fixed schedule. Every page shows which edition its figures come from. Verify anything that matters directly with the school before acting on it. This is especially true of contact details, fees and enrolment.
No warranty, and limits on our liability
SchoolSeek is provided "as is". We make no warranty that the site will be available, error-free, or fit for any particular purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by South African law, we are not liable for any loss arising from your use of this site or reliance on the information it contains — including any decision about a school, a place, or an application. Nothing in these terms limits any liability that cannot lawfully be limited.
Using the site
You may browse SchoolSeek, and link to it, freely. You may not use automated tools to extract data at scale, place unreasonable load on the service, attempt to gain unauthorised access, or use the site to send unsolicited marketing to schools. Reasonable indexing by search engines and AI assistants is welcome — see our robots.txt for what is permitted.
Reusing our data
Individual figures may be quoted with attribution to SchoolSeek and a link to the page they came from. Bulk reuse — extracting substantial parts of the dataset, redistributing it, or building a competing product or commercial service on it — requires a written licence from us. The underlying facts originate with the Department of Basic Education and we claim no exclusivity over them; what we licence is our compiled, cleaned and verified version of that data, and the work that goes into keeping it right. If you need data in bulk, contact us — it is usually straightforward to arrange.
Schools listed on this site
Schools appear on SchoolSeek because they are registered with the Department of Basic Education, not because they asked to be listed or paid to be. A school may ask us to correct its record at any time, and we verify every such request against the source data or with the school directly before publishing. Where a school has provided information itself, the profile says so. We do not remove a school's listing on request, because the register is public and the listing is factual — but we will correct anything inaccurate.
Advertising and paid placement
Any advertising or sponsored placement is labelled as such. Paid arrangements never affect how schools are ranked, scored, compared, or presented. Our comparison methodology is editorially independent of anything commercial, and that separation is a condition of the service existing at all.
Changes to these terms
We may update these terms as the service changes. The effective date above shows when this version took effect. Material changes will be noted on this page rather than applied silently.
Governing law and contact
These terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa. Questions about them, about reusing our data, or about a record you think is wrong, can be sent through our contact page.
Questions about your terms?
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