Education

The Matric Class of 2023 have achieved a pass rate of 82.9% - the highest pass rate in the history of the National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations.

More than 890 000 full-time and part-time candidates sat for the matric exams administered by the Department of Basic Education (DBE) at the end of 2023.

At the release of the 2023 National Senior Certificate examination results on Thursday, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said 572 983 candidates passed the 2023 NSC exams.

“It should be noted that while the pass rate of the 2023 NSC exams in number is the second highest in the history of the NSC exams, when expressed as a percentage, the pass rate of the 2023 NSC exams is the highest in the history of the NSC so far. This represents 572 983 candidates who passed the 2023 NSC exams.

“When expressed in number, it is the second highest pass rate in the history of the NSC examinations. The Class of 2023's achievement is an improvement of 2.8% and 6.5% from the pass rates achieved by the Classes of 2022 and 2021, respectively,” the Minister said.

The Minister commended the improvement of the education sector over the past 10 years, with Grade 12 learners notably achieving an 80.1% pass rate in 2022, and 76.4% in 2021.

The provincial rankings for the 2023 results are as follows:

• Free State is the leading province at 89.0%, an increase of 0.5% from 2022.
• KwaZulu-Natal, which is the third best improved province, achieved 86.4%, an increase of 3.4% from 2022.
• Gauteng achieved at 85.4%, an increase of 1.0% from 2022.
• North West achieved at 81.6%, an increase of 1.8% from 2022.
• Western Cape achieved 81.5%, an increase of 0.1%from the previous year.
• The Eastern Cape is the second most improved province, with a pass rate of 81.4%, an improvement of 4.1% from the previous year.
• The best improved province is Limpopo, with an achievement of 79.5%, a 7.4% improvement from the previous year.
• Mpumalanga achieved at 77.0%, a 0.2% increase from the previous year.
• Northern Cape achieved at 75.8%, a 1.6% increase from 2022.

Achievements

The Class of 2023 also scored the highest Bachelor passes – which allow candidates to apply for university Bachelor’s degree studies – in the history of the NSC, with 40.9% of candidates attaining that achievement.

Diploma level passes stand at some 27.2% of candidates. Higher Certificates are at 14.8%, while those who passed with a National Senior Certificate stands at 0.01%.

Motshekga praised the Class of 2023 for defying what she called “astronomical challenges” – including the COVID-19 pandemic during their high school years - to reach the milestone.

“There is no doubt that the basic education system has begun to reach the desired stability, which is healthy for a large and important system as ours. 

“The unquestionable resilience our school community has shown against such a devastating pandemic and other challenges, such as sporadic service delivery protests, the floods in some provinces, violence, and the general moral decadence, such as alcohol and substance abuse, cannot go by unnoticed,” she said.

The Minister emphasised that the improved pass rate is a clear indication that cooperation from all spheres of the sector can enable learners to perform at their best.

“Clearly, the system cannot survive without the direct involvement of all communities of trust, not only those who are part of the sector, but everyone. 

“The Class of 2023 has clearly demonstrated that with all requisite support and intervention programmes, we can make it.  We must prioritise our interventions on teaching and learning losses.  Support and intervention programmes must be implemented across the system,” Motshekga said. – SAnews.gov.za