Matric Class of 2023 have achieved a pass rate of 82.9% – the highest pass rate in the history of the National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations.
More than 890 000 full-time and part-time candidates sat for the matric exams administered by the Department of Basic Education (DBE) at the end of 2023.
Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga has commended Limpopo province for being the most improved province with a 79.5% matric pass rate for 2023, compared to 72.1% in 2022, with Mopani West being the leading district in the province at 83.8%.
In 2018 Limpopo produced a 69.4% matric pass rate, then improved to 73.2% in 2019 but regressed to 68.2% in 2020. The decline worsened when the province scored 66.7% in 2021.
The province has now moved two places above Mpumalanga (76.9%) and Northern Cape (75.8%)
At the release of the 2023 National Senior Certificate examination results on Thursday, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said 572 983 candidates passed the 2023 NSC exams.
“When expressed in number, it is the second highest pass rate in the history of the NSC examinations. The Class of 2023’s achievement is an improvement of 2.8% and 6.5% from the pass rates achieved by the Classes of 2022 and 2021, respectively,” the Minister said.
The Minister commended the improvement of the education sector over the past 10 years, with Grade 12 learners notably achieving an 80.1% pass rate in 2022, and 76.4% in 2021.
The provincial rankings for the 2023 results are as follows:
– Free State is the leading province at 89.0%, an increase of 0.5% from 2022.
– KwaZulu-Natal, which is the third best improved province, achieved 86.4%, an increase of 3.4% from 2022.
– Gauteng achieved at 85.4%, an increase of 1.0% from 2022.
– North West achieved at 81.6%, an increase of 1.8% from 2022.- Western Cape achieved 81.5%, an increase of 0.1%from the previous year.
– The Eastern Cape is the second most improved province, with a pass rate of 81.4%, an improvement of 4.1% from the previous year.
The best improved province is Limpopo, with an achievement of 79.5%, a 7.4% improvement from the previous year.
Mpumalanga achieved at 77.0%, a 0.2% increase from the previous year.Northern Cape achieved at 75.8%, a 1.6% increase from 2022.