US EditionHistoric 88% Pass Rate for South Africa's Matric Class Ignites Debates on Educational Standards
The 2025 National Senior Certificate exams saw over 656,000 learners pass with all 75 districts above 80%, reflecting improved retention and expanded success in no-fee schools, education officials said.
- On Monday, Minister of Basic Education Siviwe Gwarube announced in Johannesburg a record 88% national pass rate for the 2025 National Senior Certificate, up 0.7 points from last year.
- Gwarube credited evidence-based reforms and tighter quality controls for the improvement, citing higher retention and participation with non-writers falling from 17% in 2017 to 2% this year.
- For the first time, all 75 education districts recorded pass rates above 80%, with more than 656,000 learners passing and a record 345,000 bachelor’s passes.
- Gwarube called on officials to protect and deepen what is working, outlining rewrites, support programmes, and second-chance opportunities for learners who did not meet expectations, while warning gateway subjects need stronger foundations.
- Marked by deep inequality, Gwarube said education remains the country’s strongest cohesion tool, serving about 13.5 million learners with more than 460,000 educators at nearly 25,000 schools.
16 Articles
16 Articles
South Africa: Actionsa Says Matric Pass Rate Hides Many Dropouts
ActionSA says real matric pass rate is lower when counting pupils who started Grade ten but never reached matric. Other parties praise learners but warn about dropouts, weak maths results and inequality in schools.
Daily Maverick
sowetanlive.co.zaMatric Class of 2025 achieves unprecedented 88% pass rate
Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube hailed the Class of 2025 for achieving South Africa’s highest-ever National Senior Certificate pass rate of 88%, with a record 345,000 bachelor’s passes despite challenges in gateway subjects.
JUST IN | Matric class of 2025 achieves highest ever pass rate
The matric class of 2025 has achieved an 88% pass rate, marking an increase from 87.03% in 2024 and the highest pass rate ever recorded in the history of South Africa’s National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations. The results were officially released on Monday by Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube at a media briefing held in Randburg, north of Johannesburg. Matric exams 2025 | Beat the queues, how to get your results on your PHONE KwaZul…
ActionSA says matric pass rate hides many dropouts
By Dylan Bettencourt ActionSA says real matric pass rate is lower when counting pupils who started Grade ten but never reached matric. Other parties praise learners but warn about dropouts, weak maths results and inequality in schools. South Africa is celebrating a record 88 percent matric pass rate, but ActionSA says the numbers do not tell the full story. The opposition party says many pupils fall out of the system long before they write mat…
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 50% of the sources are Center
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
