For au pairs
Student au pair? How to balance lectures, exams and a family's schedule
Choosing hours that survive the semester, telling families about exams early, and the habits that keep both your degree and your job on track.
16 September 2026 路 2 min read
Most au pairs in South Africa are students. Families know this and plan for it, but the arrangements that fall apart do so in May and October, when exams collide with a schedule nobody adjusted. Here is how to avoid that.
Pick hours you can keep in the worst week
Look at your timetable for the whole semester, not the first week. If a practical moves to Thursday afternoons in April, a Thursday school run is a problem you鈥檒l have in April. Offer the days that are clear all semester, and be honest about the rest. Families would rather have three reliable afternoons than five shaky ones.
Tell them about exams before you sign
Exam timetables are published early. Give the family your exam dates at the interview and again a month before. Most families will reduce your hours, find cover for a week, or shift things around. What they can鈥檛 do is find someone on the day.
The December question
If you鈥檙e going home for the summer, say so from the start. Many families are fine with it; some need cover and will look for someone else. Either way, they need to know in October, not the last week of term.
Choose the right area
If you don鈥檛 have a car, look for families within walking or cycling distance of one school. The Southern Suburbs in Cape Town, Randburg and Linden in Johannesburg, Stellenbosch, Potchefstroom and Universitas in Bloemfontein are all easy. Our area pages say where a car matters.
Protect your study time
An afternoon au pair role is 13:00 to 18:00. Homework supervision often leaves an hour where the children are working and you can read. Bring your notes. But be clear with the family that you鈥檙e on duty, and don鈥檛 let the job creep into evenings unless you鈥檙e paid for them.
Money
Student au pairs in the metros earn roughly R6,000 to R12,000 a month for 20 to 25 hours a week, more with a car. See the pocket money guide for your city. You鈥檙e an employee, so ask the family to register you for UIF and to give you the agreement in writing. It protects you if the placement ends.
When it isn鈥檛 working
If the hours have crept, the pay is late, or the family treats your exam week as an inconvenience, say so once, clearly. If nothing changes, give notice properly and find another family. There are more families looking than there are good au pairs.
Update your availability whenever the semester changes. Families search by dates.
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