The Department of Education has announced an 88% matric pass rate for the class of 2025, with more than 656 000 learners achieving the National Senior Certificate.
More than 900 000 candidates wrote at about 6 000 centres, says Siviwe Gwarube, minister of basic education.
The best performing province was KwaZulu-Natal with a pass rate of 90,6%, followed by the Free State with a pass rate of 89,33%.
In third place, Gauteng achieved a pass rate of 89,06%. Fourth-placed North West had a pass rate of 88,49%, with Western Cape coming in at fifth with a pass rate of 88,20%.
Mpumalanga, in seventh place, achieved a pass rate of 86,55%, following by Limpopo with 86,15% and the Eastern Cape with 84,17%.
For the first time, all 75 school districts achieved a pass rate of 80% and above.
The 88% pass rate – the highest in the country’s history, says Gwarube, is an increase of 0,7% percentage points from last year.
She points out the system serves approximately 13,5-million learners, supported by more than 460 000 educators, across nearly 25 000 schools, managed through hundreds of circuit offices, 75 education districts and nine provincial departments.
Gwarube adds that there has been an increase in the number of Bachelor passes by learners from no-fee schools.
“Over 66% of Bachelor passes were obtained by candidates from no-fee schools, and more no-fee schools are achieving pass rates between 80% and 100%,” she points out.
The Independent Examinations Board (IEB) announced an overall pass rate of 98,3%.