The Independent Examinations Board (IEB) scored a 98.67% matric pass rate this year, its highest in three years, it said in a statement.
Of 11,022 full time and 703 part time candidates registered to write the exam, 10, 871 passed. Of these, 87.61% obtained university exemption.
Last year the pass rate was 98.3% with 85.26% university exemptions, and in 2014 the pass rate was 98.38%.
University of the Witwatersrand vice-chancellor Prof Adam Habib said last month that it had received more than 70,000 applications for 2017, but had places for only 6‚200 first year students.
The class of 2016 was the third group to matriculate under the national Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS).
IEB CEO Anne Oberholzer said despite the importance of good marks, there was a clear realisation among IEB pupils, their parents and their teachers that acquiring knowledge and understanding was far more important and meaningful for success after one’s schooling.
"To have a certificate with good results, but not the substance of learning required for success, simply means facing failure at the next step of your learning career," Obherholzer said
The IEB said in its statement it had prioritised protecting exams from security breaches as far as possible, using sophisticated technology and emphasising teachers’ role in building an ethical society.
Johannesburg-based schools like Brescia House School, Cornwall Hill College, St Mary’s School Waverley and St Johns College produced some of the top performers in 2016.
Penny Mullan, deputy headmistress at St Mary’s Waverley, one of the city’s oldest schools, said its 100% pass rate reflected pupils’ hard work and achievement.
She said the class of 2016 had faced a particularly difficult year and many were left with a great feeling of uncertainty amid the FeesMustFall campaign and similar developments.
Matriculants had worried a lot about their futures while also grappling with the responsibility they felt towards citizenship, Oberholzer said.
The department of basic education will release its national senior certificate results on Wednesday.
Last year’s matric exams were marred by paper leakages in Gauteng, Mpumalang and Limpopo, according to Umalusi CEO Mafu Rakometsi.
Umalusi also detected group copying among some pupils.
Rakometsi said on Thursday that this could have been facilitated by the teachers in the exam room or by pupils using their cellphones and watches to access the internet for answers.
"Teachers do it these days and when you want to pursue them they take it that they are victimised," Rakometsi said.
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