The pass rate for students who wrote the national senior certificate (NSC) administered by the basic education department soared to 87.26% in 2024, the highest pass rate recorded since the start of democracy in 1994.
It is a marked increase on the 82.9% pass rate achieved in 2023 and is the biggest year-on-year improvement in the past five years.
However, the good news contains a sting, as the number of candidates who enrolled for key subjects required for university courses in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) fields fell sharply compared to the year before.
STEM graduates are more likely to find jobs than those with humanities degrees, and the industries in which they pursue careers are key drivers of the economy.
The total number of full-time students who wrote matric in 2024 rose to 705,291, up on the 691,152 who wrote the exams in 2023. But the number of candidates who signed up for maths fell to 255,762 in 2024, a drop of more than 12,000 on the 268,100 students enrolled for the subject in 2023.
Sciences
Almost 7,000 fewer students took physical sciences in 2024 compared to the year before, while the number of candidates enrolled for life sciences fell more than 5,850 year on year. The number of students who signed up for accounting exams also fell, dropping to 99,449 in 2024 compared to 103,183 in 2023.
Basic education minister Siviwe Gwarube said too many learners were progressing through the school system without mastering foundational skills in literacy and numeracy. “These deficits accumulate over time, limiting our learners’ ability to succeed in higher grades and in the gateway subjects (of maths and science), diminishing their prospects of accessing further education and employment opportunities,” she said.
“This trend manifests itself in the decrease in the enrolment in subjects such as science and maths, accounting and economics, which are all subjects that are critical for the nation’s ability to advance in science, innovation and development,” she said, as she released the results for the class of 2024 on Monday evening.
Individual candidate results are due to be released on Tuesday morning.
The results show girls outperforming boys, scoring more subject distinctions and obtaining a higher rate of “bachelor’s passes” required for university admission.
No-fee schools
Almost half (47.8%) of the 2024 candidates obtained bachelor’s passes, a marked increase on the 40.9% who attained this achievement in 2023.
A greater proportion of girls (49.2%) attained bachelor’s passes than boys (46%).
The gap between no-fee schools serving the poorest communities and fee-paying schools serving learners from better-off households narrowed slightly.
In 2023, only 37.2% of candidates from no-fee schools achieved a bachelor’s pass compared to 47.8% from fee-paying schools: in 2024, 44.6% of students from no-fee schools achieved a bachelor’s pass compared to 53.8% from fee-paying schools.
The matric results were approved by quality assurance body Umalusi, which also gave the go-ahead for the Independent Examinations Board (IEB) to release the results of the NSC exams that it administers. The IEB’s candidates achieved a pass rate of 98.7%, the highest level in five years, but slightly lower than the 98.8% pass rate achieved in 2019 before the coronavirus pandemic struck.
Most students in the class of 2024 started grade 8 in 2020, just a few months before the coronavirus pandemic swept through SA. They faced extensive disruptions to their education over the next two years, but the system stabilised during their senior high school years, said basic education director-general Mathanzima Mweli.
He said the basic education system’s throughput rate was 64%, in line with other middle- income countries, and cautioned observers against assuming that this figure could be calculated by simply subtracting the number of students enrolled in grade 12 in 2024 from the number enrolled in grade 1 in 2013.
Some students failed and repeated grades, while others left school to continue their education at further education and training colleges, or switched to independent schools.
Earlier in the day the minister confirmed that the Hawks and state security were investigating a company that had allegedly offered to email results to candidates for a fee.
It was unclear whether the department had been the victim of cybercrime or if its officials and stakeholders had a hand in the matter, said Gwarube.
The apparent data leak had not compromised the integrity of candidates’ results as it occurred after the results had been verified, she said.
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