Admissions

The Admissions Office is responsible for coordinating the initial inquiries from families for both the Johannesburg and Pretoria campuses. The office, in addition to direct inquiries from individuals, also maintains contact with relocation agents, the mobility sections of NGOs, corporate entities, and government organizations. All inquiries will be responded to within seventy-two (72) hours.

The office acts as a conduit between the applicants and the school and will organize the necessary documentation that will guide the admissions review panel.  All final admissions decisions are made by the School Director. 

In line with AISJ’s mission statement and philosophy, a student will be eligible for admission to AISJ as long as the school has the capacity to support them in the classroom and enable a student to reach his/her fullest potential.

Continued enrollment is based on the student’s academic and behavioral performance, as well as AISJ’s capacity to meet the student’s needs.

New and returning students will only be accepted into the high school on the premise that the student will graduate prior to the student’s twentieth birthday.

Any student who has previously graduated from the equivalent of high school in another learning institution will not be considered for enrollment at AISJ.

Students may only join AISJ for the second year of the International Baccalaureate (IB) if the first year of the IB has been completed elsewhere and the course selections are closely aligned.

AISJ accepts new students into grade 12 only under special circumstances as determined by the High School Principal.  In such cases, students must attend grade 12 for the entire academic year.

For Elementary School and Middle School, the campus where you enrol is determined strictly by where you reside. The Johannesburg Campus offers Elementary School, Middle School and High School. The Pretoria Campus offers Elementary School and Middle School. All Elementary and Middle School students residing in the Pretoria area must enrol at the Pretoria Campus, even if they have a sibling who will attend the High School in Johannesburg. All Elementary and Middle School students residing in the Johannesburg area must enrol at the Johannesburg Campus. All High School students will enrol at the Johannesburg campus.

The school transport options correspond to the campus enrolment as outlined above. We offer the following bussing options:

1. Johannesburg to Johannesburg Campus (for Elementary School, Middle School and High School)
2. Pretoria to Pretoria Campus (for Elementary School and Middle School)
3. Pretoria to Johannesburg Campus (for High School students only)

In recent years AISJ has experienced considerable demand for admissions and has reached its enrollment capacity in some grades.  Students who meet the admissions criteria, but for whom a place is not yet available, will be placed in a waiting pool. When a place becomes available they will be considered for the vacancy along with others in the waiting pool in accordance with Board approved criteria.

AISJ receives a multitude of inquiries throughout the year from across the world. Inquiries will be answered in order of receipt and applicants are encouraged to apply as soon as the decision is made to send a child to AISJ. 

For applicants located in or planning to visit Johannesburg, AISJ welcomes the opportunity to present a tour of its stunning campuses in Johannesburg and Pretoria. An appointment may be made with the Admissions Office.

Please refer to the How to Apply tab

The application fee of R4 250.00 will be invoiced automatically when you submit an application. If you do not wish to be invoiced, please do not submit your application.  You can save your application and go back to as many times as you like prior to submission. However, once you submit you are indicating that you are making a full application and you understand that you’ll be invoiced the fee of R4 250.00

Each completed file is carefully reviewed by the Admissions Office and the Admissions Review Panel.

Once the documents have been submitted, AISJ will make a decision regarding admission and/or status as soon as possible but always within a ten school day period. At times this may be extended if the Principal requires further documentation to support the application.

Students joining AISJ’s Lower Elementary School are placed according to age.  The cut-off date is August 31st of the year of school entry; pre-kindergarten students must turn four (4) years on or before August 31st, kindergarten students must turn five (5) by that date and grade one turn 6 before the 31st of August.

Students applying for grade 2 must turn 7 before the 31st of August and so on through to grade five. Applicants will be placed by age but their previous academic history may be considered by the Principal at the time of application.

Students applying for grades six through twelve are generally placed in accordance with the previous academic grade level.

Those students arriving from countries which follow a January to December or March to April academic calendar are generally expected to continue in the same grade level to align with the AISJ Northern hemisphere calendar. Exceptions will only be considered with significant supporting evidence such as age and academic results.

Where possible, the admissions decision is made based on the paperwork submitted by you, however, in some circumstances, AISJ may not be able to give you an immediate answer without a face to face assessment
Circumstances necessitating a specific assessment may include:

New students joining pre-kindergarten and kindergarten (at the Johannesburg campus) are assessed prior to placement.
Unless the student is already located in Johannesburg, the assessment will take place just before school commences.

If documentary or other evidence suggests that a student may have an undiagnosed learning need or will require English Language support, an assessment may be requested to ensure AISJ possesses the capacity to appropriately support the student.

Evaluation of a student’s academic achievement or social or emotional needs, to ensure that AISJ has the capacity for the student to reach their potential.

Each completed file is carefully reviewed by the Admissions Office and the Admissions Review Panel. Once the documents have been submitted, AISJ will make a decision regarding admission and/or status as soon as possible but always within a 10 school day period. At times this may be extended if the Principal requires further documentation to support the application.

If a child is offered a place at AISJ, the decision to accept the offer must be given within 48 hours, otherwise the offer will be retracted.

All offers of a place will be confirmed by AISJ in writing via email.

Students who do not hold a South African passport or birth certificate must obtain a study permit in order to attend AISJ; students may only commence school once proof of the study permit application has been received. The only exceptions are in the case of diplomatic or embassy affiliated passport holders. A study permit can be obtained from the South African Department of Home Affairs. Once an offer for admission has been made and accepted, AISJ will prepare a letter, in standard format, for submission to Home Affairs. Please note that due to faculty and senior administrator holidays, at certain times of the year it is not possible to issue the letter necessary for the study permit. Applicants are advised to take this into account when making an application. In these circumstances it is recommended that you take advice from your immigration consultant or department.

All students must submit records to demonstrate that necessary vaccinations have been received.  Should the school nurse recommend that additional immunizations are required the family will be informed accordingly.  A student is expected to be immunization compliant by the start of school.

AISJ provides a door-to-door bus service within a stipulated area and where it is possible to access a student’s home.  At the start of each semester, the admissions and transport offices will coordinate busing for new students. At least forty-eight (48) hours advance notice must be given in order to utilize the bus service.

All information regarding supplies will be circulated prior to school starting. In essence students attending pre-kindergarten to grade 5 require a back pack, water bottle, snacks and lunch (or money for lunch) and a hat. In addition middle and high school students will be asked to provide basic stationery items.

The majority of AISJ students commence school at the beginning of the academic year in August.  A new student orientation will be held a few days prior to school opening.  The same will occur for those students joining at the start of the second semester in January.  Should a student arrive outside of these two main times, AISJ will work with the family to clarify the timing of arrival, transport requirements and actual start date.

The majority of AISJ students commence school at the beginning of the academic year in August. A new student orientation will be held a few days prior to school opening. The same will occur for those students joining at the start of the second semester in January. Should a student arrive outside of these two main times, AISJ will work with the family to clarify the timing of arrival, transport requirements and actual start date.

AISJ’s Tuition Schedule is readily available on the AISJ website and both soft and hard copies are available from the Admissions Office.

A student may only commence classes if satisfactory arrangements have been made for the payment of all tuition and transport fees prior to the start of school.  The Capital Fee is non-refundable.  Please refer to the published Tuition Schedule for further details.

Thank you for considering AISJ for your child’s education. Our Admissions Office is open throughout the year. 

If you require further assistance please contact Pamela Gutmann, Enrollment Manager at admissions@aisj-jhb.com

Pre-Kindergarten: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 7:40 am to 1:00 pm

Kindergarten to Grade 12: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 7:40 am to 2:50 pm

All students - Wednesday: 7:40 am to 1:30 pm 

Student Attendance Calendar available here.

All students studying in kindergarten to Grade 5 take Spanish as the second language. From grade 6 and above, students have the option of Spanish or French.

Students studying the IB in Grades 11 and 12 may have the option of studying their native language.

No. At this time, AISJ does not offer any of the South African national languages other than English

We have a casual dress policy; students wear comfortable appropriate clothing.

AISJ families live in a wide spread area covering Fourways, Dainfern and Sandton suburbs in addition to the central Pretoria and East Pretoria. In simple terms, the majority of families live in Fourways / Dainfern or Waterkloof and surrounds.

Students represent over 107 nationalities; up to 25% are American with Dutch, South African, British, Korean, Indian and Swedish also well represented

Not usually, however as Johannesburg continues to define its position as a leading regional center, and AISJ continues to develop as the predominant international school, waiting lists are becoming more of a norm. That said, a waiting list would be comprised of several rather than hundreds of students. Due to the transient nature of AISJ families there is always a strong chance that a place will become available but obviously, it is not guaranteed.

As soon as you know you are relocating to Johannesburg! We will not accept applications more than 18 months in advance.

None, the application fee covers the cost of the application process regardless of the outcome of the application.

Such a fee is standard in most international schools and separates the cost of the actual teaching from the cost of the larger construction and refurbishment projects. As such the capital fee funds all significant expenses such as buildings and capital assets.

No. Under no circumstances will AISJ negotiate the published tuition schedule.

The list is endless! Key sports for older students are soccer, volleyball and basketball, swimming. Other activities include stock market investors club, yearbook, photography, hiking, equestrian, theatre, astronomy, art and literature magazine, SCUBA, yoga and more. Elementary school students can participate in golf, tennis, karate, cooking, swimming, hip-hop, ballet, debating, SpeedStacks, service learning, knitting, creative writing, art and more.

AISJ does not offer boarding, the majority of our students are day scholars. We have a small boarding house, which is only available to those students attending AISJ on an SSP scholarship. 

Our healthy cafeteria offers a range of meals including a hot meal, sandwiches and rolls, sushi, fruit and salad.

The hot meal / set menu costs R45.00 for MS & HS students and adults. The middle and high school students have access to other items priced individually.

The hot meal / set menu costs R40.00 for ES students.

Both systems have 13 years of education.

UK system starts with Year 1 and concludes at Year 13 = 13 years of Schooling.

US System starts with Kindergarten and concludes at Grade 12  Kindergarten + 12 Grades = 13 years of schooling.