The homeschooling alphabet soup, decoded.

Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement. South Africa's national curriculum, the same one taught in most schools, Grade R to Grade 12. See CAPS.

South African Comprehensive Assessment Institute. The body that sets and assesses exams for independent and homeschool learners, including the National Senior Certificate.

National Senior Certificate. The formal name for the matric certificate, awarded at the end of Grade 12 and recognised by South African universities and colleges.

The everyday word for the Grade 12 exit year and its qualification, the NSC. "Writing matric" means sitting the final Grade 12 exams.

General Education and Training. Grade R to Grade 9, split into the Foundation (R–3), Intermediate (4–6) and Senior (7–9) phases.

Further Education and Training. Grades 10 to 12, where learners pick subjects and work toward the NSC.

Cambridge International, an internationally recognised curriculum followed in 160+ countries, from Primary through to A Level. See Cambridge.

International General Certificate of Secondary Education. The Cambridge qualification usually taken around Grade 10–11, before AS and A Level.

Cambridge's advanced qualifications, typically the final two years, used for university entry around the world.

A learner who registers for and sits official exams independently through an approved exam centre, rather than through a physical school. Cambridge learners sit as private candidates from IGCSE.

A SACAI-approved app used to invigilate formal assessments remotely from Grade 9 to 12, so results stay credible when writing from home.

Support-focused teaching that helps a child who has fallen behind catch up, by re-pacing the curriculum and breaking work into smaller steps. See Remedial CAPS.

Education adapted, or purpose-built, for learners who learn differently, with accommodations like extra time, a scribe or untimed assessments. See Special Needs.

Loosely used interchangeably. Homeschooling puts the parent in charge of a home-based education; an online school delivers a structured curriculum, teachers and assessments online. Saving Grace is the second, run from home.

Your child works through lessons on their own timetable rather than a fixed class schedule, so a ready learner can move ahead and nobody is rushed.

Department of Basic Education. The national department that oversees schooling; homeschool learners in Grades R–9 are registered with it.