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Pretoria Boys High School can trace its origins back to 1901 when it was established in the Staats Model School building in central Pretoria. It relocated to the present grounds eight years later and in 1910 adopted its present name when the Pretoria College amalgamated with the Eendracht School in the same year as the Union of South Africa came into being.
It is appropriate that Boys High was born in the same year as South Africa because it has served the country well in the past century by providing a high school education for thousands of the country's young men, most of whom have gone on to successful careers in all manner of occupations and professions. The school has always played a crucial role in providing leaders and its alumni include prominent figures in the business world, medicine, law, the military, education, sport and the arts.
Perhaps at no other time in the history of South Africa has there been a more urgent need for citizens who are products of good schools. In spite of a sometimes dispiriting prognosis, the potential for the country to become a world class nation remains. What is needed are a few generations of educated, energetic and positive young people to turn the tide.
In this regard, Boys High is perfectly placed to serve the role of a flagship within a state education system that is struggling, despite record spending by government. The school has the capacity to produce, as it has done for a century, the type of men who will make this country work.
To optimally serve its core function, Pretoria Boys High will need to have upgraded facilities, a sustainable business plan and the tools for the job. In the pages that follow we hope to show you why we believe that an investment in Boys High is an investment in South Africa.
Unparalleled Educational Opportunities and a Solid Record of Achievement
Pretoria Boys High is the largest school for boys in South Africa. The House System comprising ten houses (three for boarders and seven for day scholars) allows administration and pastoral care to be effectively maintained down to the level of individual boys. Each house operates as a microcosm of the school with its own senior housemaster, tutors and prefects.
 Boys High is in the fortunate position of always being fully staffed. Its academic performance places it in the top ranking schools nationally. In most years the school achieves a 100% matric pass rate and around 90% of the candidates are eligible to apply to university. The school has a fine reputation for producing pupils who do well at tertiary institutions.
Despite not offering sporting scholarships, the school is competitive in all the sporting codes on offer. Teams regularly feature in the top ten for particular sports and each year sees a significant number of individual sportsmen selected to represent their province or even play at a national level.
The success achieved by pupils both at school and in later life, can be largely attributed to a well run school that attracts dedicated staff who are committed to maintaining the high standards. The school has been blessed with good leadership and governance, ensuring that it is not only well managed but that it continues to serve the best interests of the community.
The days of free education are long gone and annual fees are now almost R25 000 per annum, but the school continues to offer excellent value for money. Among comparable state schools, PBHS has a fee structure that places it in the middle order in terms  of cost to parents. Relative to independent schools, a Boys High education is between a third and a half of the cost. When judged by what is on offer at PBHS, there is no doubt that few schools can compare on a rand-for-rand basis. Indeed many boys schools in the country tend to use Boys High as the benchmark for standards.
A Holistic Approach to Schooling: A Tradition of Balanced Education and Good Values
 The school prides itself on having a holistic educational philosophy. It is our belief that all pupils should have the opportunity to experience a balanced education that is based on academic, cultural and sporting dimensions. The school works hard to maintain this balance by way of how it budgets time, money and activities. Many schools pursue achievements in one of these fields at the expense of others, something which PBHS has resolutely shied away from despite pressure to follow suit.
Evidence of the commitment to all three spheres of school life can be found in the employment of additional teachers (to limit class sizes); the maintaining of a musical tradition and the equal recognition (through colours) of endeavours in the academic, sporting, cultural and service life of the school.
All boys are encouraged to participate in as wide a variety of activities as possible. A dozen sporting codes and over twenty clubs or societies offer a range of extra mural opportunities unparalleled in other schools.
The school is famous for inculcating a belief in traditional values of good manners, integrity, hard work, service to the community and loyalty. These have become the hallmarks of the alumni of Boys High.
The belief that a well rounded young man is the highest ideal of a Boys High education is to be found inter alia in the symbolism of the statue that stands on the central dome of the main buildings and in the annual awarding of a Renaissance Man prize to a member of the leaving group.
World Class Facilities
The facilities at PBHS are among the very best available at state schools in South Africa and compare extremely favourably with top schools across the world.
Currently the school infrastructure comprises:
- 85 acres of land
- fifty classrooms
- over twenty specialised teaching venues including science laboratories, art rooms, music rooms, workshops and computer centres.
- three boarding houses accommodating approximately one fifth of the pupils.
- a central dining hall
- eight sports fields (cricket/hockey/rugby)
- an artificial hockey surface
- an athletics track
- six tennis courts
- four squash courts
- three basketball courts
- two pools (swimming and water polo)
- fifteen staff houses
In addition to these facilities, the school has been the beneficiary of two farms donated for our use, one in the Lowveld and the other in the Western Magaliesberg. The second of these is used as a Bush School, a unique facility in which groups of Form II boys experience a full term of outdoor education.
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