Horizon High School

A Hizmet-affiliated Turkish-South African secondary in Turffontein, founded 2000 as Horizon High School and renamed Star College Johannesburg in 2013. STEM-focused with a strong Olympiad track record.

The school was set up by the Horizon Educational Trust, which has run Hizmet-network schools across the country since the late 1990s. The academic emphasis is unambiguous: mathematics, science, and technology, with pupils competing in national and international Mathematics, Science, and Computer Olympiads since 2000. Turkish is offered alongside English, Afrikaans, and isiZulu. Fees ZAR 52k a year, the cheapest in this batch.

Best fit for families wanting an affordable academic high school with a clear STEM identity and a small, disciplined environment. Boarding is available, drawing pupils from outside Gauteng. Parents who choose Star Johannesburg tend to value the academic seriousness and the cultural mix. Families looking for a broad sports or arts programme, or the IEB matric route, will find this a narrower offering than the northern suburbs alternatives.

• Horizon High School in Turffontein, Johannesburg, is the secondary school operated by Horizon Educational Trust, the South African affiliate of the international Horizon (Hizmet-aligned) network. In January 2013 the trust resolved to rebrand the school as Star College Johannesburg, and both names remain in use.
• The school follows the South African national curriculum to NSC Matric, with a stated focus on mathematics, science and computer science and participation in national and international Olympiads.
• The trust reports a 100 per cent matric pass rate as a long-running tradition for its schools, with a high bachelor-pass proportion and around 2.9 distinctions per learner. Independent verification of single-school detail is limited.
• Public review signal is very thin. The International Schools Database carries one parent review, dated January 2025, rating the school "Fantastic" and citing two matric distinctions; that is essentially the entirety of public independent review voice.
• Reddit and Mumsnet do not surface substantive parent threads on Horizon Johannesburg specifically. Discussion of the wider Horizon Educational Trust and Star College Durban exists but is not a substitute.
• The school is not an international curriculum school despite Horizon Educational Trust's roots in the international Hizmet movement; reviewers and directories should be read with that in mind.