Bulelwa Hoala

Basic Education Minister, Siviwe Gwarube, announced the 2024 National Senior Certificate (NSC) matric results in Randburg on Monday night.
According to Gwarube the matric class of 2024 achieved the highest pass rate in the history of the country at 87.3%.
This is an increase from the 82.9% pass rate achieved by the matric class of 2023 last year.
“I am proud to announce that in 2024, 615 429 learners passed the National Senior Certificate (NSC) – more than any other time in our history. South Africa’s national pass rate for the 2024 National Senior Certificate has therefore increased from 82.9% in 2023 to 87.3%,” said Gwarube.
All provinces saw an increase in their overall pass rate as each achieved above the 80% pass rate.
The Free State is the best performing province with a 91% pass rate, followed by KZN at 89.5% and Gauteng with a 88.4% pass rate.
Meanwhile, 47.8% of NSC exam candidates received Bachelor Passes which allows them to apply for a Bachelor’s Degree at university.
KwaZulu-Natal gained the highest number of Bachelor passes at 84 000, Gauteng obtained 66 000 and the Eastern Cape received 45 000.
The South African Government News Agency reports that approximately 67% of the Bachelor passes achieved in 2024 came from Quintile 1 to 3 schools, which are typically found in poorer communities.
“This percentage represents an increase from 2023. This means that poorer communities are producing more and more candidates who can go on to become doctors, engineers, accountants and scientists,” Gwarube said.
The class of 2024 achieved 319 651 distinctions overall.
KwaZulu Natal came out tops yet again with 10.8% distinctions, followed by the Western Cape at 6.3% and Gauteng with 5.3%.
Mpumalanga and Limpopo improved the number of distinctions by over 1% compared to 2023.
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