What is Grade R in South Africa?

The reception year before Grade 1, at about age 5 to 6. It is part of the Foundation Phase and lines up with a US kindergarten year.

Do children learn English from Grade R?

Each child learns a home language and a first additional language from the Foundation Phase. For many children English is the additional language, and in many schools it becomes the language of teaching from Grade 4.

South Africa's CAPS curriculum

Also called CAPS, Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement, Grade R, Foundation Phase, Intermediate Phase, Senior Phase, FET, matric, NSC.

Ages Grade R to Grade 12, about ages 5 to 18Grades K–12Planning Laid out for youScreens Some screen timeShelf School curricula around the English-speaking worldUpdated November 2026

South Africa's public schools follow the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements, CAPS, from Grade R, the year before Grade 1, to Grade 12. The years are grouped in four phases: Foundation (Grades R to 3), Intermediate (4 to 6), Senior (7 to 9) and Further Education and Training (10 to 12), which ends in the National Senior Certificate, or matric. Children learn a home language and a first additional language, and for many the additional one is English. This page explains the phases, the languages and the assessment.

1 Where it came from

CAPS was introduced from 2012, grade group by grade group, to make the National Curriculum Statement clearer for teachers: for each subject and phase it sets out what to teach, term by term, and how to assess it. The Department of Basic Education publishes CAPS documents for every subject and phase, and has issued guidelines since, including a 2017 amendment for Grades R to 6.

2 The big ideas

Four phases. Foundation (Grades R to 3), Intermediate (4 to 6), Senior (7 to 9) and FET (10 to 12).
Term-by-term content. CAPS documents set out what to teach in each term of each grade, which makes them unusually detailed.
Two languages from the start. Each child learns a home language and a first additional language; English is the additional language for many children and the language of teaching from Grade 4 in many schools.
School-based assessment early, exams later. In the Foundation Phase assessment is all school-based; exams take a larger share in each later phase.

3 What a lesson looks like

A Grade 2 morning, as an illustration. The class starts with mental maths: counting forwards and backwards in 2s and 5s, then number bonds. The maths lesson uses bottle tops grouped in tens to add two-digit numbers. Next comes the home language: a shared reading of a story, phonics for a new sound, and a short piece of writing. After break, the first additional language lesson, English for many children, uses songs, pictures and repeated phrases. The afternoon is Life Skills, with a topic on keeping healthy.

4 Reading and math

In the Foundation Phase, children learn to read and write first in their home language, with phonics, shared and group reading, and handwriting, while learning to speak and then read their first additional language. Mathematics from Grade R builds counting, number, patterns and mental maths, then the four operations, fractions and measurement through the Intermediate Phase.

5 The adult's job

Teachers follow the CAPS term plans and keep records of each child's school-based assessments. Parents receive reports each term. At home, reading in the home language, talking and reading in English if it is the additional language, and counting games all support the Foundation Phase.

6 How progress is checked

The share of formal exams grows phase by phase: in the 2011 rules the Foundation Phase was assessed entirely in school, the Intermediate Phase 75 percent in school and 25 percent by exams, the Senior Phase 40 and 60, and the FET Phase 25 and 75. Grade 12 ends with the National Senior Certificate (matric) exams.

7 Strengths and criticisms

Strengths

Very clear planning. Term-by-term content tells teachers and parents exactly what each grade covers.
Two languages from the start. Every child builds a home language and an additional one.
Gentle assessment early. The Foundation Phase is assessed in school, without formal exams.

Criticisms and watch-outs

The language switch. Many children change to English as the language of teaching in Grade 4, which can be hard for those still learning it.
Content-heavy. Teachers have said the term plans leave little room to slow down for children who need it.
Older rules quoted widely. The assessment weightings above are from the 2011 to 2012 rules; check the current CAPS for each phase.

8 What the research says

This page describes a system rather than testing it. The phase structure and the 2011 assessment weightings are from provincial notices on CAPS implementation, and the Department of Basic Education's 2017 guidelines amend CAPS for Grades R to 6. The research behind this page did not cover outcome studies of CAPS or the latest revisions, so check the Department's curriculum pages for current documents.

9 How to try it

Read the CAPS for your child's phase. The Department and provincial sites publish them by subject and phase.
Support both languages. Read in the home language every day, and use English songs, games and picture books if English is the additional language.
Practise mental maths. Counting in steps and number bonds, a few minutes a day, are big parts of the Foundation Phase.
Line up the grades. Grade R is the US kindergarten year; our curriculum finder puts CAPS grades beside other countries.

10 Using Peabody with it

English picture cardsPicture cards with audio, for children learning English as an additional language.
Numbers on PeabodyCounting, number, patterns and measurement by grade in eight doors.
Hundreds chartFor counting in 2s, 5s and 10s.
Curriculum finderGrade R to Grade 8 beside other countries' years and grades.

Peabody is free and has no ads. Pages on peabody.kids are for children; pages here are for the adults teaching them.

11 Programs that follow it

Programs and materials often named with this approach: CAPS (Department of Basic Education), Grade R, National Senior Certificate (matric).

Questions people ask

What is Grade R in South Africa?: The reception year before Grade 1, at about age 5 to 6. It is part of the Foundation Phase and lines up with a US kindergarten year.
What are the four CAPS phases?: Foundation (Grades R to 3), Intermediate (4 to 6), Senior (7 to 9) and Further Education and Training (10 to 12), which ends in the National Senior Certificate.
Do children learn English from Grade R?: Each child learns a home language and a first additional language from the Foundation Phase. For many children English is the additional language, and in many schools it becomes the language of teaching from Grade 4.

Sources

Plans for the implementation of the National Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements (CAPS) Grades R–12, Western Cape Government.
Guidelines to strengthen CAPS implementation, GET band (2017), Department of Basic Education (2017).

National curricula abroad: How six other countries set what children learn: England's key stages, Australia's F–10, Canada's provinces, Singapore, Finland and Japan, side by side.
National Curriculum in England: England's year groups, key stages and national checks, with what each year expects in reading and maths and how it lines up with US grades.
World languages: How children learn a second language: proficiency goals, lots of understandable input, story-based methods like TPRS, and immersion schools.
Cambridge International (IGCSE and A Level): A subject-by-subject program for ages 5 to 19, with Checkpoint tests in the early stages and IGCSE and A Level exams later. Schools can take one stage or all.
Every approach in the curriculum guide

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