School climate is a determinant of academic performance, as supported by evidence in developed countries. However, there are limited studies from developing countries to test this hypothesis. The few studies that have attempted to explore this topic are often limited to educators. Studies in South Africa show this limitation, hence the motivation to explore school climate from the students' perspective. This study is focused on students' perception of school climate and how it impacts their academic lives. Two schools from the Western Cape Province were used as case studies. They were Pinelands and Langa High Schools, institutions that are distinct in terms of their history, location, resources, demographics and academic performance. The results of the study revealed that most students do not feel safe physically and emotionally in the school environment. In a multiracial school, the main concern is around interpersonal relationship, particularly the level of social support received from teachers; while in a black and disadvantaged school, the concerns are around institutional environment relating to the physical environment and facilities in school. Additionally, students from the privileged school had more emotional concerns, and did not believe that teachers supported them socially, while those from the disadvantaged school had physical safety concerns but believed that their teachers are supportive both academically and socially. The study concludes with a recommendation for future studies to consider more than two schools, expand the geographical scope, employ rigorous data collection, and assess multi-stakeholder perceptions of school climate and the link it has to academic performance so as to improve reliability and generalisability of the findings.