The method of withholding examination results or reports as a means to collect outstanding fees should be used with caution. For example, National Senior Certificate (NSC) results cannot be withheld since they are the property of the province or the examinations body and not the school.

Legal opinion suggests that in private institutions, annual reports can be withheld as a means of obtaining fees that are outstanding, but also warns that there is no settled law on this point.

Although the contract is between the parent and the school, schools need to be aware that section 28(2) of the Constitution provides that "….the child's best interests are of paramount importance in every matter concerning the child".

Therefore, whilst the contractual right of the school vis a vis the parent might justify the withholding of the report because fees are not paid, even in opposition to an application by the parent under the Promotion of Access to Information Act (No 2 of 2000), there might be less certainty of success in any application brought by the child (assisted by the guardian) under Section 28 of the Constitution.