The Matric class of 2023 have achieved an incredible performance in their National Senior Certificate at 82.9% pass rate.
The Minister of Basic Education, Mrs Angie Motshekga, announced the pass rate at an event held in Fairland, Randburg on Thursday, 18 January 2024.
The basic education system saw 715 750 candidates entered for the exams, but only 691 160 ended up writing the exams at the end of 2023.
While the most improved province is Limpopo with a 7% increase, KwaZulu-Natal has made great strides and rose to 2nd position when compared to other provinces, according to the ranking unveiled by Minister Motshekga.
The Free State province came out tops once again at 89% while KZN leapfrogged Gauteng to 2nd spot with 83.6% and Gauteng 3rd with 85.3%. Gauteng lost the grip on a position they held for several years.
Minister Motshekga said that the most improved performance was in Limpopo who were last with 72.1% in 2022, but jumped to 7th position in 2023 after recording a 7% gain to 79%.
North West is at number 4 with 81.6% while Western Cape is at number 5 with 81.5%. The Eastern Cape is at number 6 after recording an 81.4% pass rate, while Mpumalanga dropped to position 8 even though it also recorded a marginal improvement in the overall performance. Northern Cape is the worst performing province after falling to the last position from number 8 in the 2022 results.
The province with the most number of bachelor passes is KZN at 72 165 and Gauteng contributed 56 532 bachelors.
KZN has the highest number of districts in the top 10 districts with 4 that include Mkhanyakude, Ugu, Ilembe and Zululand whereas Gauteng and the Free State both have 3 districts on this table.
Minister Motshekga said the basic education system is stabilising and that the consistent improvement was testament to this assertion.
“We are still dealing with the impact of COVID-19 on education. We are not out of the woods yet but we are satisfied with the results especially of the class of 2023,” she said.