The Class of 2022 has achieved an 80.1% pass rate compared to the 76.4% pass rate achieved in 2021 – an improvement of 3.7%, confirmed Basic Education Minister, Mrs Angie Motshekga, during the announcement of the 2022 NSC examination results. The much-anticipated results were officially announced at Mosaïek Church in Randburg on 19 January 2023.

In her welcoming remarks, Deputy Minister, Dr Reginah Mhaule, acknowledged the work done by Provincial Education Departments (PEDs) and districts, in ensuring that the sector was able to address quality and efficiency in the Basic Education Sector. “During this year, we worked closely with underperforming schools to rescue them from poor performance.”

Minister Motshekga said that, “for the past ten years, the NSC pass rate has consistently been improving from 60% in 2009 to an above 70% pass rates in recent years. The Class of 2022 must be commended for maintaining this trend despite the astronomical challenges they faced. These included challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic, loadshedding and sporadic service delivery protests”.

This represents 580,555 candidates who passed the 2022 NSC examination, an improvement of 7.9%. The number of candidates qualifying for admission to Bachelor studies at universities is 278,814, an improvement of 8.9%, the highest attained in the history of the NSC examination. The number of candidates who passed with a Diploma, is 193,357, an improvement of 8.9%, which represents 26.7% of the total number of candidates who wrote the 2022 NSC examination. The number of candidates who passed with Higher Certificates is 108,159, an improvement of 4.1%, representing 14.9% of the total number of candidates who wrote the 2022 NSC combined examination.

The Minister expressed her gratitude to every education stakeholder who joined the sector in its quest to improve learning outcomes. “Clearly, the support programmes and interventions introduced by the DBE, both for learners and educators; the policy shifts introduced to mitigate the effects of COVID-19; the strengthening of the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the curriculum and assessment practices; the resilience of this cohort; the stability and the maturity of a system on the rise; the involvement of all communities of trust within the Basic Education Sector in our schools; the psycho-social support and counselling provided to our learners; parental involvement to ensure the safety of learners at school during extra tuition; the strengthening of school governance imperatives; as well as the support programmes introduced by the private sector and NGOs have  surely borne good fruit. For this Class of 2022, the Basic Education Sector deployed a dedicated and customised support programme to ensure that all learners are provided with optimum opportunities,” said Minister Motshekga.