Lerato Mbhiza
Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga announced on Thursday evening that the matric class of 2023 achieved a pass rate of 82.9%, as the Free State led the way as a province with the highest pass rate of 89.03%.
Last year the Free State also led with the highest pass rate at 88.5%.
The national matric pass rate overall is up by 2.8% points from the 80.1% in 2022.
A total of 715 719 full time and 182 056 part time candidates registered to sit for the 2023 NSC examinations.
The number of bachelor passes increased, to 40.9% in 2023 up from 38.4% in 2022.
Gauteng clinched second spot, getting 86.36% from 83.0% in 2022.
KwaZulu-Natal continued its impressive streak, overtaking Western Cape to become the province with the most distinctions, the province jumped from 6% to 8.3%, the Western Cape came in second while Gauteng took third place.
The province was also among three whose districts achieved 80% and above as the other two were Gauteng and Free State.
This was revealed in the technical briefing report by Basic Education director-general Mathanzima Mweli.
“To just give you a glimpse, out of 10 pupils, four pupils presented with bachelors, in terms of the 900,000 candidates who enrolled for the NSC in 2023, which means it has increased from last year,” Mzweli said.
Motshekga said the results highlighted a significant shift in South Africa’s educational landscape, challenging the notion that quality education is exclusive to urban areas.
It should be noted that while the pass rate of the 2023 NSC exams in number is the second highest in the history of the NSC exams; when expressed as a percentage, the pass rate of the 2023 NSC exams, is the highest in the history of the NSC so far.
Similarly, Bachelor passes as well as passes with distinction produced by the Class of 2023, stand out at the highest in the history of NSC exams, Motshekga said.
Provincial level performance percentage per province
𝐅𝐒: 𝟖𝟗.𝟎%
𝐊𝐙𝐍: 𝟖𝟔.𝟒%
𝐆𝐏: 𝟖𝟓.𝟒%
𝐍𝐖: 𝟖𝟏.𝟔%
𝐖𝐂: 𝟖𝟏.𝟓%
𝐄𝐂: 𝟖𝟏.𝟒%
𝐋𝐌:𝟕𝟗.𝟓%
𝐍𝐂: 𝟕𝟕.𝟎%
𝐌𝐏: 𝟕𝟓.𝟖%
INSIDE EDUCATION
