The Class of 2025 has achieved the highest National Senior Certificate (NSC) pass rate in South Africa’s history, with 88% of learners passing their final exams.
COURTESY: X - @DBE_SAAnnouncing the results on Monday evening, Gwarube said the
achievement must be understood within the scale and complexity of the schooling
system, which continues to grow year after year.
“Our system serves approximately 13.5 million learners,
supported by more than 460,000 educators, across nearly 25,000 schools. Real
reform in a system this size cannot be PR-led. It is deep work.”
Nationally, more than 656 000 learners passed the NSC
examinations in 2025. KwaZulu-Natal emerged as the top performing province with
a pass rate of 90.6%, followed by the Free State at 89.33% and Gauteng at
89.06%.
“In 2025, more than 900,000 candidates wrote at about 6,000
centres,” she said.
Gwarube described the NSC as one of the most complex
national operations in the country, second only to national elections.
The minister also took aim at what she described as a
persistent misconception around the matric pass mark.
“South Africans, we must put a stubborn myth to rest: 30%
is not the matric pass mark,” she said.
She explained that the NSC is achieved by meeting minimum
requirements across a full subject package, with higher thresholds in key
subjects and different pass types that open different post-school pathways.
The minister said reforms must begin earlier in the
schooling journey, warning against treating matric as a single event.
“Matric is not an event – it is a journey that spans more
than a decade,” she said.
To address learning gaps earlier, she said the National
Education and Training Council is reviewing assessment and progression policies
from Grade R to Grade 12.
Done By: Mitchum George
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