By Johnathan Paoli

Over the past three academic years and into the 2025 National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations, South Africa’s schooling system has continued to display a troubling contradiction: steadily improving matric pass rates alongside persistently high learner dropout across earlier grades.

While the release of the results marked another record year for pass rates, the data still points to significant attrition long before learners reach Grade 12.

During the release of the 2025 NSC results, Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube provided new insight into the scale and location of learner attrition.

She noted that in 2014, approximately 1.2 million children entered Grade 1, and by the time that cohort reached Grade 10 in 2023, enrolment had declined by only about 4%.

This, she said, demonstrated relatively strong retention through the early and middle years of schooling.

However, the pressure intensifies sharply in the final grades.

“Between Grades 10 and 12, a large number of learners begin to repeat, others even leave the school system,” Gwarube said.

The full-time Grade 12 class of 2025 comprised around 778,000 learners, underscoring the scale of attrition in the final phase.

Nationally, only about 84% of learners progress from Grade 10 to Grade 11, and approximately 78% from Grade 11 to Grade 12.

“These figures tell us something important. The largest dropout pressure is not across the whole system; it intensifies late, as learners move into Grades 11 and 12,” she said.

She cautioned that strong final pass rates cannot, on their own, be treated as evidence of system-wide quality.

“If learners exit the system before Grade 12, the system is not yet delivering quality at scale, regardless of how strong the final pass rate is,” Gwarube said.

In 2023, the education sector was emerging from the prolonged disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Although overall learner attendance and enrolment stabilised, dropout pressures remained concentrated among older learners.

Many adolescents exited the system between Grades 10 and 12, often after repeating grades or falling behind academically.

A growing proportion of learners in the Further Education and Training phase were older than the typical age for their grade, reflecting delayed progression and heightened dropout risk.

The 2024 academic year illustrated that while the national matric pass rate climbed to around 87.3%, throughput rates, tracking progression from Grade 10 to Grade 12, regressed slightly compared with 2023.

Civil society research during the same period estimated that roughly one-third of South African children do not ultimately complete school, with many lost years before matric due to poverty, pregnancy, academic struggle, mental health challenges and caregiving responsibilities.

The 2025 results extended the trend of improved terminal outcomes.

The Class of 2025 achieved an official matric pass rate of approximately 88%, the highest in the country’s history.

Of those who wrote, 88% passed under Umalusi, while the Independent Examinations Board recorded a 98.3% pass rate.

There were also encouraging indicators of improved system stability.

Gwarube noted that the largest share of candidates were 18 years old, pointing to better on-time progression, while the proportion of learners unable to sit for any exam papers declined from around 17% in 2017 to about 2% in 2025.

Part-time repeat candidate numbers have also fallen, reflecting fewer learners needing to rewrite Grade 12.

“These trends matter because they point to a more stable system, and stability is the platform on which quality must now rise,” the minister said.

Yet concerns remain.

Advocacy organisations such as the Zero Dropout Campaign warn that around four in ten learners who start Grade 1 still fail to obtain a matric or equivalent qualification.

They argue that dropout is driven by cumulative socioeconomic stress rather than sudden academic failure, and that psychosocial support is critical to improving retention.

Gwarube stressed the need for honest engagement with the data, warning against practices that improve performance statistics at the expense of access.

“Where we see lower learner retention alongside higher performance, we must question that pattern carefully and fairly,” she said.

She called for stronger learner tracking and early warning systems to ensure intervention long before Grade 12.

The minister highlighted a growing gender imbalance, with girls now comprising 56% of matric candidates.

While this reflects stronger protections for the girl child, including the removal of pregnancy as a barrier to education, she warned that boys are increasingly being left behind and require urgent, targeted support.

As South Africa celebrates record matric outcomes in 2025, many agree that the true test of system health lies not only in pass rates, but in whether learners are supported to stay the course from the early grades through to completion.

INSIDE EDUCATION

By Johnathan Paoli

The North West Province has continued its upward trajectory in National Senior Certificate (NSC) performance, achieving an overall pass rate of 88.49% for the Class of 2025, marking a 0.9 percentage point improvement from the previous year.

The results were officially released on Tuesday at Rutanang Primary School in Rustenburg, Bojanala District, during a ceremony attended by Premier Lazarus Mokgosi, Education MEC Viola Motsumi, senior government officials, educators, learners and parents.

Formally declaring the results released, MEC Motsumi confirmed that Umalusi had approved the NSC outcomes on 7 January as credible and fair, describing the results as further proof that the provincial education system is “destined to rise to greater heights”, likening its recovery to a phoenix rising from the ashes.

“While our goal remains to be among the top three provinces nationally, these results show that with the commitment of teachers, principals and school governing bodies, steady improvement is possible, even in a predominantly rural province like ours,” Motsumi said.

Motsumi traced the province’s performance over the past six years, noting a steady climb from 76.0% in 2020 to the current 88.49%, following improvements in 2021 (78.6%), 2022 (79.8%), 2023 (81.63%) and a significant jump to 87.52% in 2024.

The North West has retained its fourth position nationally.

She attributed the 2025 performance to sustained academic support, consistent learner tracking and targeted interventions, pointing out that the Class of 2025 maintained results above 80% in quarterly assessments throughout the year.

While celebrating the improved pass rate, the MEC emphasised the importance of quality outcomes.

Bachelor’s degree passes stood at 44.4%, slightly lower than 2024, while Diploma passes increased to 29.78% and Higher Certificate passes improved to 17.42%.

The province recorded 8 050 subject distinctions, excluding Life Orientation, an increase from 7 901 the previous year.

Male learners achieved a marginally higher overall pass rate than females, although female learners continued to dominate Bachelor-level admissions.

Performance disparities between school types also narrowed.

Learners from no-fee schools achieved an 87.01% pass rate, compared to 89.53% in fee-paying schools, a trend Motsumi said demonstrated growing parity and resilience in under-resourced communities.

All four districts recorded improvements.

Bojanala retained its position as the top-performing district with a 90.82% pass rate, followed by Dr Kenneth Kaunda (87.78%), Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati (85.61%) and Ngaka Modiri Molema (85.71%).

At local education office level, Madibeng, Moses Kotane and Rustenburg emerged as the strongest performers, while Lekwa Teemane recorded the most significant improvement, increasing its pass rate by 10 percentage points.

The province’s top learner, Temogo Matong from Setswakgosing Secondary School, a quintile 2 school in the Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District, achieved an outstanding 1 727 marks across his best six subjects.

Motsumi highlighted this achievement as evidence that excellence is possible even in under-resourced contexts.

A total of 45 schools achieved a 100% pass rate, up from 44 in 2024, with schools such as Potchefstroom Gimnasium, Rustenburg High School and Wesvalia High School featuring prominently.

Addressing underperformance, Motsumi acknowledged that the number of schools below the 70% threshold increased to 37, attributing this partly to stricter monitoring of learner retention.

She encouraged unsuccessful candidates to enrol in the Second Chance Matric Programme, with 4 708 learners eligible to rewrite in June 2026.

In an interview with Inside Education on Monday, Motsumi welcomed the improved results but admitted the province had aimed to break into the national top three.

She cited budget constraints as a key challenge, particularly the reduced ability to accommodate all learners in academic incubation camps.

To address this, she said the department would intensify engagements with the private sector, including mining companies and other businesses, to support future interventions.

Looking ahead to 2026, the MEC outlined plans to expand school nutrition programmes, particularly breakfast provision, and to refocus attention on early childhood development and the foundation phase.

“If we go back to basics and strengthen the foundation phase, we won’t need to rely so heavily on incubations later,” she said.

Mokgosi, delivering the keynote address, congratulated the Class of 2025 and described the results as a testament to deliberate policy interventions and collective effort.

He linked education outcomes to broader service delivery challenges, warning that water shortages, electricity cuts and community protests continue to disrupt teaching and learning.

Mokgosi emphasised that improving municipal performance and building safer communities were essential to sustaining educational gains.

He also highlighted government investment in education infrastructure, nutrition programmes and bursaries, noting that over 740 000 learners in the province benefit from the National School Nutrition Programme.

Concluding his address, Mokgosi called on communities to uphold the principle that “it takes a village to raise a child”, urging collective responsibility to protect and nurture the province’s learners as the foundation of its future.

INSIDE EDUCATION

By Akani Nkuna

Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi has lambasted the province’s 2025 matric performance, describing its drop from second to third place nationally as unacceptable and calling for urgent intervention.

Speaking at the provincial matric results awards ceremony in Centurion on Tuesday, Lesufi warned that without swift corrective measures, Gauteng risks reversing gains made in recent years.

“This is not the standard for Gauteng. This is not where we should be, considering the resources we invest in education. There is no way we can be happy with position three,” Lesufi said.

“This kind of performance is not ideal and is not acceptable. We need to find a way forward. If we do not change the system, we risk falling even further. We must rework and reengineer it.”

Gauteng was overtaken by the Free State despite achieving its highest-ever matric pass rate, improving from 88.4% in 2024 to 89.06% in 2025.

While the province recorded an increase, it lagged behind others in terms of growth, particularly when compared with provinces it is traditionally grouped alongside.

Lesufi called for the reprioritisation of the education budget and renewed focus on school infrastructure, warning that shortcomings in these areas had contributed to Gauteng losing its second-place national ranking.

However, he welcomed the narrowing gap between fee-paying and no-fee schools, many of which are located in townships, noting that these schools had delivered strong results.

Lesufi also praised the provincial department’s recruitment strategy, which places some of Gauteng’s best teachers in township schools to ensure equitable access to quality education.

“We are ready to have one equal education system in our country. It should not matter where you study — you can obtain a Bachelor pass in a township school just as you can in a suburban school,” he said.

Addressing the media after the ceremony, Gauteng Education MEC Matome Chiloane echoed the call for a shift in strategy, attributing the slower growth to the province’s inclusive approach towards progressed learners.

Chiloane said the department remains committed to ensuring access to education, even for learners who are not academically inclined — a stance that has affected overall performance.

“Our strategies must change. While our results show an upward trajectory, this year we accommodated a larger number of progressed learners compared to other provinces,” he said.

“We had about 10,000 progressed learners, of whom 55% passed. This shows that we are a system that supports learners to complete their schooling. Our goal is to prevent learners from remaining stuck in the system.”

INSIDE EDUCATION

By Lebone Rodah Mosima

Siza Gule, a top-performing learner from St John’s College in Johannesburg, is set to begin his studies at the prestigious Harvard University in August, marking a major milestone in an already exceptional academic journey.

Gule achieved nine distinctions in the 2025 National Senior Certificate examinations, finishing with an impressive 94% average. He said he intends to pursue a multidisciplinary programme that reflects his wide-ranging interests, including law, politics, theatre and literature.

“My interest is really to do a bunch of different things because I’m not entirely sure of one key thing that I want to focus on at the moment,” Gule said on Tuesday.

Known for his strong academic record as well as his creative flair, Gule’s passion for the arts was evident throughout his time at St John’s College, where he actively engaged in cultural and intellectual pursuits alongside his studies.

Looking ahead to life at Harvard, Gule said he is particularly excited about exploring creative disciplines while keeping his academic options open.

“I’m very much a creative person. Theatre and literature are definitely my biggest interests at the moment,” he said.

Gule’s admission to Harvard places him among a small group of South African students who gain entry to the Ivy League institution each year, a testament to both his academic excellence and his diverse talents.

INSIDE EDUCATION

By Levy Masiteng

The University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) has received a staggering 326,546 applications for just 9,124 first-year places, underscoring the fierce competition for admission at the institution.

With the matric results officially released, UKZN said it will begin issuing firm offers to successful applicants via SMS from Wednesday, with offers released in batches over the coming days until all available spaces are filled.

Applicants who receive offers will have 72 hours to accept them before the offer lapses and is reallocated to another candidate.

“Applicants are therefore encouraged to monitor their messages carefully and respond within the stipulated timeframe,” the university said, cautioning that meeting minimum admission requirements does not guarantee placement due to limited capacity.

In a media statement released on Tuesday, UKZN congratulated the Matric Class of 2025, noting that South Africa recorded its highest matric pass rate to date, with KwaZulu-Natal emerging as the top-performing province nationally.

UKZN Executive Director for Corporate Relations Normah Zondo warned prospective students to remain vigilant against misinformation and scams.

“We caution prospective students not to come to our campuses, as no unregistered person will be allowed to enter. Applicants should rely only on official information from the University,” Zondo said.

She further emphasised that places at UKZN are not for sale.

“No UKZN employee will instruct applicants to come to campus, nor will any employee request payment in exchange for a place,” she said.

The university confirmed that online registration for first-time entering undergraduate students who have accepted offers will take place from 2 to 7 February, with no in-person registration available.

Zondo said UKZN is fully prepared to welcome the 2026 intake.

“UKZN is committed to supporting students as they transition into higher education. With strong teaching and learning facilities, world-renowned academics and globally recognised research, we are well positioned to nurture their academic journeys,” she said.

“We are ready to receive, support and welcome them, and we encourage them to choose UKZN.”

INSIDE EDUCATION

By Levy Masiteng 

Build One South Africa (BOSA) and ActionSA have challenged the government’s announcement of an 88% matric pass rate for the class of 2025, and have instead put forward “real” pass rates of 54.7% and 57.7%, respectively.

The criticism came after Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube announced on Monday night that the Class of 2025 had achieved an overall pass rate of 88% — the highest in the country’s history.

ActionSA spokesperson Lerato Ngobeni said that the government’s celebration of the 88% pass rate was “triumphal rhetoric” that masked the true performance of South Africa’s basic education system. 

BOSA spokesperson Roger Solomons echoed this sentiment, saying the 30% pass mark was “nothing more than Bantu Education in the modern era”, entrenching low expectations and masking systemic failure.

While welcoming the achievements of learners who passed, both opposition parties said the headline figure masked the true extent of dropout and exclusion within the education system.

According to BOSA, out of 1,250,791 learners who started school in grade 1 in 2014, only 684,640 full-time learners passed matric in 2025, indicating a system that was “jeopardising the future of our young people”.  

“This means over 566 000 young people didn’t make it; the 88% pass rate is misleading,” said Solomons. 

ActionSA said that nearly half of learners who entered the final phase of schooling never successfully completed matric.

“Using the accepted cohort methodology, the effective completion rate falls to 57.7%,” said Ngobeni. 

“Despite the minister’s triumphal rhetoric, nearly half of the learners who started the final phase of schooling did not successfully complete matric.”

“This gap is not an abstraction,” she said. “It reflects a system that continues to lose learners through dropout, repetition and disengagement long before they ever reach the examination hall. Success is defined by shrinking the denominator rather than improving outcomes.”

Both parties said that poverty, inequality and weak institutional support were major drivers of learner attrition, particularly between Grades 10 and 12.

“The sharp drop-off between Grades 10 and 12 shows that hundreds of thousands of learners are being lost before matric,” Solomons said. “Often poverty forces young people out of classrooms and into work opportunities to support their families.”

Additionally, ActionSA criticised the state of school infrastructure and learner safety, pointing to the continued use of pit toilets in some schools. 

“A system that cannot guarantee basic safety and dignity for learners cannot credibly claim success based on pass percentages alone,” Ngobeni said.

The Democratic Alliance struck a more measured tone, congratulating the Class of 2025 while warning against an overemphasis on headline pass rates.

Gwarube belongs to the DA and was made basic education minister as part of the country’s government of national unity negotiations in 2024.

“The real story in the matric results is not a single percentage, but whether the system improved on quality indicators and whether learners are being retained through to Grade 12,” said DA spokesperson for Education Horatio Hendricks. 

He said learner dropouts between Grades 10 and 12 remained “the biggest pressure point in the system” and cautioned that “a headline pass rate cannot hide” the fact that too many learners are lost along the way. 

Hendricks also criticised attempts by provincial leadership to deflect responsibility for weak performance, and stressed that learner safety and accountability must come first.

BOSA and ActionSA both said that fundamental reform was required, starting with assessment standards.

“To fix this crisis, the 30% pass mark must be scrapped and replaced with a 50% minimum for all subjects,” Solomons said. “The current standard entrenches low expectations, inflates pass rates and masks systemic failure.”

BOSA said it was “deeply unfortunate” that the ANC, DA, FF+, PA and Al-Jama-ah voted against its recent parliamentary motion to end the 30% pass mark.

“These parties sold out the future of South Africa’s young people, telling them that low standards and mediocrity are acceptable,” said BOSA.

INSIDE EDUCATION

By Thapelo Molefe

At just 17 years old, Thabang Mashigo has already etched his name among South Africa’s brightest young minds.

The Khutsalani Secondary School learner from Mbombela, Mpumalanga, was named one of the Top 40 Matric Achievers nationally during the Ministerial National Senior Certificate (NSC) results announcement, where he was also honoured as the third best mathematics pupil in the country.

Mashigo passed the 2025 NSC examinations with a Bachelor pass and seven distinctions, excelling in Accounting, Mathematics, Physical Sciences, Life Sciences, English First Additional Language, Siswati Home Language, and Life Orientation.

Behind the accolades, however, lies a story shaped by perseverance through personal loss.

During his matric year, Mashigo faced one of the most devastating challenges imaginable: the death of his father in the middle of his trial examinations. The loss came at a critical academic moment, threatening to derail years of hard work.

“I was emotional and struggled to focus at first. But I told myself that I had to do it for him and for myself,” he told Inside Education.

That resolve became his anchor. With the support of his family, especially his twin brother, Mashigo found the strength to adapt and continue.

“All he ever wanted was for me to succeed,” he said of his father. “This achievement means everything to me.”

Mashigo’s father was himself a mathematics teacher, making his recognition as the third best Grade 12 Mathematics learner nationally a deeply symbolic moment.

“I feel so grateful and emotional,” he said. “This is just the beginning of something great.”

Mashigo credits much of his success to teamwork, hard work, and resilience. Throughout the year, he studied collaboratively with friends, sharing resources and explaining concepts to one another — a method he believes strengthened his understanding.

“I’m a step-by-step person,” he said. “Explaining work to others helped me master it myself.”

He also received extensive academic support from his school. Teachers at Khutsalani Secondary School made themselves available beyond classroom hours, with his mathematics teacher, Mr Ngomane, playing a pivotal role.

“My maths teacher lived nearby, so I could even go to him at night when I didn’t understand something,” Mashigo said. “The teachers went the extra mile with no restrictions.”

Another crucial pillar was the Kutlwanong programme, a free initiative offering additional Mathematics and Physical Sciences lessons. Mashigo says the programme helped him overcome early struggles, particularly in Physical Sciences, which he found challenging in Grade 10.

“With Kutlwanong, I was able to adapt and truly understand the concepts,” he said. “It made a big difference.”

Despite excelling in analytical subjects, Mashigo admitted that not everything came easily. Life Orientation and English posed challenges, especially the subjective nature of assessment and literature components.

“Life Orientation needs flexibility, there’s no specific memo,” he said. “And English literature surprised me, especially the poems.”

Still, his consistency across subjects resulted in one of the strongest performances nationally.

Looking ahead, Mashigo has set his sights firmly on the future. He plans to pursue Actuarial Science, with aspirations to study at either the University of Cape Town or Wits University.

For current and future matriculants, his message is simple but powerful: “Try and fail, but never fail to try. Even if you struggle during the year, keep fighting until you achieve something.”

INSIDE EDUCATION

By Johnathan Paoli

Takunda Muchuweni’s presence at the National Senior Certificate (NSC) Top Achievers Breakfast on Monday stood as a powerful reminder that academic excellence is not defined by circumstance, but by resilience, discipline and unwavering belief.

Among South Africa’s top-performing learners celebrated at the prestigious event, Muchuweni emerged as one of the most inspiring achievers of the Class of 2025.

Muchuweni is a learner from Jan Kriel School in the Western Cape, a specialised education institution known for supporting learners with physical disabilities and learning barriers.

For Muchuweni, the journey to matric success was marked not only by the usual academic pressures faced by thousands of candidates nationwide, but by intense physical and emotional challenges that tested her endurance daily.

Paralysed from the neck down and reliant on a wheelchair, Muchuweni had to navigate her final school year while managing constant pain and recurring illness.

But she refused to allow these realities to define her outcome.

“The most difficult part of my year was battling self-doubt and being in real physical pain. I had to write exams while sick, and I was wondering whether I would be physically able to make it,” she told Inside Education.

She recalled the emotional challenge of arriving at school after summoning every ounce of strength, only to face hours-long examinations while in discomfort.

“It was demotivating to put in all the work and get the strength to go to school, and then when you sit for the exam, you are hit with sharp pain. You have to focus and write for three hours with a smile on your face when you are just racked with pain,” she said.

But Muchuweni persevered, driven by a determination not to let her circumstances overshadow her goals.

She described matric as an unpredictable and demanding journey, but one that rewards consistency and self-belief.

“It was often tough. There was a lot of self-doubt. There were a lot of days where I was in pain and a lot of days where I felt like giving up. But I just kept going despite all of that,” she said.

Now celebrating her academic success on a national stage, Muchuweni is already looking ahead.

She plans to pursue studies in psychology or industrial psychology, motivated by a desire to understand human behaviour and resilience; qualities she has embodied throughout her schooling.

Her message to the Class of 2026 is simple but profound: matric is a roller coaster, and no one is ever fully prepared. What matters is persistence.

“Just keep on going, keep on believing in yourself and working hard each and every day,” she said, while also reminding learners to allow themselves moments of joy along the way.

INSIDE EDUCATION