Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube announced a historic national pass rate of 88% for the 2025 National Senior Certificate examinations, marking the highest matric pass rate in South Africa’s history and representing a 0.7 percentage point increase from the previous year’s 87.3%.
The milestone achievement comes as more than 920,000 candidates sat for the 2025 NSC examinations nationwide, making it the largest national assessment process ever undertaken in the country’s history. Over 656,000 learners successfully passed their matric examinations.
Speaking at Mosaïek Church in Fairlands, Johannesburg, alongside Deputy Minister Dr Reginah Mhaule, Gwarube emphasised that the results represented genuine progress in educational quality, not merely improved access.
Provincial performance rankings
The provincial pass rate rankings revealed KwaZulu-Natal leading the nation with an impressive 90.6% pass rate, followed by the Free State at 89.33% and Gauteng at 89.06%. The Eastern Cape recorded the lowest pass rate at 84.17%, while the Northern Cape showed the biggest improvement among provinces with 87.79%.
The complete provincial standings show North West (88.49%), Western Cape (88.2%), Northern Cape (87.79%), Mpumalanga (86.5%), and Limpopo (86.15%) rounding out the top performers.
No-fee schools show strong performance
In a particularly encouraging development, over 66% of bachelor passes were obtained by candidates from no-fee schools, demonstrating that excellence is emerging as a consistent pattern rather than an exception in township and disadvantaged communities.
“There has been encouraging progress in township and no-fee schools, where excellence is emerging as a consistent pattern rather than an exception,” Gwarube noted during her address.
Mixed results in gateway subjects
However, the results revealed concerning declines in critical gateway subjects. Mathematics pass rates dropped from 69% to 64%, while accounting fell from 81% to 78%. Physical sciences showed modest improvement, rising slightly from 76% to 77%.
These gateway subject results underscore ongoing challenges in preparing learners for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers, despite the overall positive trajectory.
Foundation challenges highlighted
Gwarube used the announcement to highlight fundamental systemic issues, particularly in early childhood development. She illustrated the inequality gap through contrasting stories of two fictional children – Lindiwe from a privileged background and Sipho from a disadvantaged community.
“The thrive-by-five index that we released in September indicates that 42% of children aged four to five are developmentally on track. Too many children start school already behind, and that gap compounds each year,” Gwarube explained.
Retention rates and dropout patterns
The Minister revealed that while 84% of learners nationally progress to Grade 10, the sharpest declines occur between Grades 11 and 12, where dropout pressures intensify significantly.
“The largest dropout pressures did not span the entire system, but intensified specifically from Grade 11 onward,” she noted, emphasizing the need for targeted interventions during these critical years.
Debunking the 30% myth
Gwarube took the opportunity to dispel the persistent myth that 30% constitutes the matric pass mark, calling on political leaders to avoid populist rhetoric that discourages learners from pursuing diverse post-school pathways including skills training and other alternatives to university degrees.
“Sloganism undermines differently talented learners by devaluing the NSC, which requires meeting minimum standards across a full subject package, including higher thresholds in key subjects,” she warned.
Students can access their 2025 NSC results on novanews.co.za from 06:00 on 13 January. In line with privacy regulations, only candidates’ examination numbers, not their names, will be listed publicly.
Sustainability concerns
Despite celebrating the historic achievement, Gwarube cautioned that austerity measures risk undermining foundational gains in early learning support and school nutrition programs, which require sustained investment for continued progress.
The Independent Examinations Board (IEB) separately announced an exceptional 98.3% overall pass rate for its candidates, maintaining its reputation for academic excellence.
Looking forward
The Class of 2025’s achievement builds on steady improvement from the previous year’s 87.3% pass rate, which itself represented significant progress from 2023’s 82.9%. However, Gwarube emphasized that true transformation requires addressing systemic inequalities from early childhood through to matriculation.
“No tree grows tall when its roots are weak, and no education system transforms when its foundations are weak,” she concluded, outlining the government’s accelerated focus on strengthening educational foundations for sustainable long-term improvement.
The results represent both a celebration of achievement and a call to action for addressing the structural inequalities that continue to challenge South Africa’s education system.
ALSO READ: Get your matric results on Novanews.co.za from 06:00 on Tuesday, 13 January
