The South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL) runs a scholarship for high school learners alongside its better-known university bursary. The school scholarship pays for the costs of Grade 8 to Grade 12, whatever subjects the learner takes. For the 2027 school year, SANRAL opened its form on 1 June 2026 and shut it on 30 September 2026; that window is now over.
Matriculants and students who want money for a degree need a different page: SANRAL funds first-year university students through its SANRAL external bursary for tertiary study, which has its own rules.
School costs SANRAL can carry
SANRAL’s scholarship page lists the following, each paid where it applies to the learner:
- school fees, registration and, for boarders, boarding school fees
- school uniform and sports uniform
- books and stationery
- transport with a reputable school transport operator
- extra lessons, but only in Mathematics and Science
- access to SANRAL’s Wellness Programme
SANRAL offers a limited number of these awards each year and says plainly that applications outnumber them.
The 60% and R550,000 tests
To qualify, a learner must:
- be a South African citizen;
- attend a registered, endorsed South African school;
- be applying for Grade 8, 9, 10, 11 or 12;
- have an overall academic average of at least 60%;
- come from a household earning less than R550,000 a year; and
- complete the online application in full, with every supporting document uploaded.
SANRAL encourages learners with disabilities to apply. It picks recipients on a mix of academic merit, financial need and the learner’s background, and it reserves the right to stop accepting a designated group once that group’s target is met.
The family paperwork SANRAL asks for
Most of the work in a SANRAL scholarship application falls on the family, because SANRAL checks household income in detail. The core pack is:
- three motivation letters: one from the learner (two pages, explaining who they are and why they want the scholarship), one from the parents and one from the school;
- certified copies of the learner’s June school report, the learner’s ID or birth certificate, and the parents’ or legal guardian’s IDs;
- income proof dated within the last three months, and every copy certified in that same three-month period before you submit.
Family circumstances add documents. Guardians include the parents’ death certificates or a social services letter; single parents need a Home Affairs letter on marital status plus an affidavit about the other parent; foster families include the court decree; siblings at a TVET college or university need proof of registration. Income proof depends on how the household earns: payslips for employed parents, IRP5 and tax documents for commission earners, financial statements and tax returns for business owners, and a Department of Labour letter or affidavit for unemployed parents. Because the June report is part of the pack, families can prepare everything else before the window opens.
Applying online, and the 31 January rule
Applications go through the online form on SANRAL’s Scholarships page on nra.co.za, which SANRAL describes as data-free. SANRAL charges no fee to apply, so do not pay anyone who offers to submit an application for you.
SANRAL contacts only successful learners. For the round that closed on 30 September 2026, a family that has heard nothing by 31 January 2027 should treat the application as unsuccessful; SANRAL does not give individual feedback. A learner who misses out can apply again the following year, and a scholarship does not promise a job at SANRAL later.
Families comparing options for high school learners can also look at the Investec high school bursary for Grades 10 to 12 and the Allan Gray scholarship for Grade 6 learners.
When does the next SANRAL school scholarship round open?
SANRAL has not announced the round for the 2028 school year. The window for 2027 opened on 1 June 2026 and shut on 30 September 2026. SANRAL has not confirmed that it will keep the same dates, so watch nra.co.za in the months before June 2027.
Does the learner have to take Maths and Science?
No. SANRAL says the scholarship supports learners irrespective of their subject choices. Only the extra lessons are limited to Mathematics and Science.