On Thursday night, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga announced the 2023 matric results which showed a historic pass rate of 82.9%
This was an increase from 80.1% in 2022 and 76.4% in 2021.
Here are some of the other notable numbers to emerge from the 2023 matric results:
Enrollment and Examination Overview:
- A total of 897,775 candidates, both full-time and part-time, enrolled for the National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations in 2023.
- The examinations involved 162 question papers, with 10.2 million printed and 9.6 million scripts produced.
- Exam administration was extensive, involving 6,898 examination centres, 72,500 invigilators, and 52,500 markers across 184 marking centres.
Candidate Age Profile:
- 88.2% of full-time and 47.8% of part-time candidates were aged 16-20.
Grade Progression:
- From the 1.2 million students who enrolled in Grade 1 in 2012, 740,566 progressed to Grade 12 in 2023.
- By October 2023, 715,719 candidates had enrolled for the NSC exams.
Full-time vs Part-time Candidates:
- Of the total enrollees, 715,719 were full-time, and 182,056 were part-time candidates.
Progressed Learners:
- 54,943 progressed learners enrolled, with 49,866 writing all seven subjects.
- 22,688 progressed learners passed, representing 45.5% of those who wrote all subjects.
- These learners achieved 3,147 Bachelor, 8,828 Diploma, and 10,680 Higher Certificate admissions, plus notable distinctions.
Special Education Needs Learners:
- 5,458 learners with special needs enrolled, with 5,288 writing the exams.
- 4,581 of these learners passed, achieving various levels of academic success, including 2,072 distinctions.
Impact of 'Pro-Poor' Policies:
- Significant improvement in Bachelor passes from schools previously considered poorly performing, reaching over 65% in 2023.
- Quintiles 1-3 schools saw 379,917 passes, with 174,676 Bachelor passes.
Social Grant Recipients:
- 543,786 social grant recipients wrote the exams, with a pass rate of 81.2%.
- This group achieved 202,156 Bachelor passes, indicating a 2.1% improvement from 2022.
Correctional Facility Candidates:
- 137 out of 147 full-time candidates in correctional facilities passed, with 93.2% achieving Bachelor, Diploma, or Higher Certificate passes.
Gender Aggregation:
- 56.4% of candidates were female, with both genders showing an 82.9% pass rate.
- Female candidates attained 66.4% of the distinctions.
District-Level Performance:
- No district had a pass rate below 60%, with top districts exceeding 80%.
- Johannesburg West in Gauteng led with 92.5%.
Provincial Performance:
- The Free State led with an 89.0% pass rate.
- Significant improvements were noted in Limpopo (7.4% increase) and Eastern Cape (4.1% increase).
Overall NSC Results:
- The 2023 NSC overall pass rate reached 82.9%.
- A record number of 282,894 candidates qualified for Bachelor studies.
- The Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, and Limpopo produced a significant portion of Bachelor passes and distinctions.
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