By Johnathan Paoli
Education Quality Council Umalusi has approved the release of the 2025 end-of-year national examination results after a review of the conduct, administration, and standardisation of exams across the country, it said on Friday.
The approval covers four main qualifications: the National Senior Certificate (NSC), the National Certificate (Vocational) Level 4, the NATED Engineering Studies (N3), and the Adult Basic Education and Training certificate (ABET).
The exams were administered by the Department of Basic Education, the Department of Higher Education and Training, the Independent Examinations Board, and the South African Comprehensive Assessment Institute.
Umalusi Chairperson Yunus Ballim said at a press briefing that the Council’s Executive Committee reviewed reports from all assessment bodies and confirmed that the examinations met national standards and were conducted without any major irregularities that could affect the credibility of results.
Around 1.03 million candidates sat for exams at about 9 400 centres nationwide.
The NSC had the largest group, with more than 927 000 learners, with a total of 307 subjects examined across the four qualifications.
Standardisation of marks, a key part of Umalusi’s quality checks, ensures fairness by adjusting overall mark distributions rather than individual scores.
All assessment bodies received approval to release their results.
In certain subjects, some minor adjustments slightly upward or downward to reflect the standardisation process were made, and any candidates implicated in irregularities or dishonest acts will have their results withheld pending investigation, according to the organisation.
The boards are required to submit improvement plans by 13 March.
While Umalusi acknowledged improvements in technical and vocational colleges, recurring issues with internal assessments remained a concern, including non-compliance with internal assessment requirements and some irregularities during examinations.
Ballim congratulated the Class of 2025 and expressed gratitude to teachers, parents, guardians, support staff, and communities who helped learners reach this milestone.
He encouraged students who did not succeed to persevere and emphasised the importance of maintaining the integrity of South Africa’s national examinations.
The NSC results will be released by Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube on Monday, and published in accredited newspapers on Tuesday.
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