Deputy President, Paul Mashatile, has extended his heartfelt congratulations to the matric Class of 2025 following the release of the National Senior Certificate (NSC) results, commending the matriculants for their resilience, discipline, and determination in reaching this important milestone. He reaffirmed Government’s commitment to investing in young people and creating inclusive opportunities that enable them to participate meaningfully in the economy and society.
Basic Education Minister, Ms Siviwe Gwarube, announced that the matric class achieved a historic 88% pass rate, the highest in South Africa’s history, representing an increase of approximately 0.7 percentage points from 2024. In addition, KwaZulu-Natal has emerged as the top-performing province, achieving an impressive 90.6% pass rate, setting a new benchmark for educational excellence in South Africa. More than 900,000 full-time and part-time candidates wrote at approximately 6,000 centres across the country, making it the largest cohort to sit for the NSC examinations, with 656,000 learners having successfully passed.
Addressing educators, learners, parents and stakeholders, Minister Gwarube confirmed that the results had been quality-assured and approved by Umalusi, affirming the credibility and integrity of the examination process. She extended her gratitude to the entire education sector for their contribution to attaining this year’s pass rate: “To every Premier, every MEC, every Head of Department, every district director, every principal, and every teacher, these outcomes are built day by day, term by term, year by year and we honour the work behind them”.
The proportion of Bachelor passes, which provide access to university degree studies, declined slightly from 48% in 2024 to 46% in 2025. However, in absolute numbers, more learners than ever before achieved Bachelor passes, increasing by 8,700 to over 345,000 candidates. Diploma passes accounted for 28% of results, whilst 13.5% of candidates achieved Higher Certificate passes. Girls continued to outperform boys in participation, making up 56% of the matric cohort. The Minister cautioned that the growing underrepresentation of boys in Grade 12 and post-school pathways requires urgent intervention. The Mathematics pass rate dropped from 69% to 64%, while Accounting fell from 81% to 78%. Physical Science showed a marginal improvement, increasing from 76% to 77%. Only 34% of candidates wrote Mathematics, with the majority opting for Mathematical Literacy – a trend the Minister described as concerning for long-term access to scarce skills and economic participation.
Learners who did not pass or get the results that they hoped for are further encouraged to explore the Second Chance Matric Programme, supplementary examinations, and alternative education and training pathways.
In a comprehensive progress report, the Director-General of the Department of Basic Education, Mr Mathanzima Mweli, revealed significant developments in South Africa’s education landscape, highlighting both achievements and ongoing challenges facing the nation's school system. Mr Mweli provided a detailed technical briefing on the 2025 NSC examination cycle, including system readiness, marking and moderation processes, standardisation outcomes and integrity assurance measures.
The vote of thanks was delivered by Basic Education Deputy Minister, Dr Reginah Mhaule, who reiterated the well-known proverb that states that it takes a village to raise a child. “We extend our sincere appreciation to our stakeholders, including teacher unions, councillors, School Governing Bodies, parents and caregivers. To our community members, who serve as the extended eyes and ears of parents and educators, particularly where challenges cannot be immediately seen or addressed in our absence, your contribution to the success of our learners cannot be overstated. We express our sincere appreciation to our valued partners and sponsors: the MTN Foundation, our host sponsor; Old Mutual; FirstRand Empowerment Fund; Santam; Sasol; AVBOB; Telkom Foundation; Vodacom Foundation; Shoprite Foundation; Kagiso Trust; Fundi; the Independent Development Trust; the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants; the Sifiso Learning Group, for placing the future of South Africa at the forefront of their commitments. Basic Education cannot act in isolation in efforts to produce learners of the highest calibre,” Dr Mhaule concluded.