[2] The origins of Hillcrest International Schools started with Hillcrest Preparatory School which was founded in 1965 by educationalist Dorothy Noad and long-serving government employee Frank Thompson.

[5] In 1975 Kenneth Matiba, Stephen Smith, and Frank Thompson partnered to start the Hillcrest Secondary School.

The preparatory school's facilities include 32 general classrooms, two laboratories, a library, two art rooms, a multipurpose hall, a swimming pool, a music centre with four practice rooms and a teaching/rehearsal space, an open-air amphitheatre, two computer laboratories, and a learning-support Center, Design and Technology center and an art room.

The sixth form has 50 to 60 students in each year, most of whom continue to university, mainly in the UK, but also in the United States, Canada, Europe and South Africa.

The school year runs from September to July and IGCSE/'O' and 'A' level exams are set and marked by CIE (Cambridge International Examinations), AQA and Edexcel.