The matric class of 2024 has achieved a pass rate of 87.3% in the National Senior Certificate (NSC) exams - the highest in the country's history, Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube announced yesterday.

The pass rate increased by 4.4% from 82.9% in 2023. It was 80.1% in 2022 and 76.4% in 2021.

And in another first, all nine provinces scored above 84% with 47.8% of matriculants earning passes good enough for university entry.

The Western Cape scored a pass rate of 86.6%, behind top-ranked Free State with 91%, KwaZulu-Natal with 89.5%, Gauteng with 88.4% and North West with 87.5%, and ahead of Limpopo with 85%, Mpumalanga with 84.99%, Eastern Cape with 84.98% and Northern Cape with 84.2%.

“This is the highest matric pass rate in the history of our country and should be a moment of great pride and celebration for all of us,” said Ms Gwarube, during the release of the results in Johannesburg.

Subject choice changes, shifts to part-time candidature and movements to TVET colleges from Grade 10 were some of the factors that had had an impact on the pass rate, she said.

Rayyan Ebrahim, from Pinelands High School, was the top matriculant in the country. Other Western Cape pupils listed among the country’s top achievers were Matthew Christopher Wise, also from Pinelands High School, and Nicholas Schreiber, from Rondebosch Boys’ High School.

Jordan Raubenheimer, from the De La Bat School, came second in the country in South African Sign Language.

The Western Cape also achieved a record number of distinctions, with 11 699 candidates scoring a total of 27 948 distinctions. And the province had the top maths and physical science pass rates - 78% and 79.4% respectively.

According to the department, 1 060 852 candidates participated in the 2024 end-of-year examinations, with 832 993 candidates or 78.5% participating in the National Senior Certificate, which is distributed across the Department of Basic Education, the Independent Examinations Board (IEB) and South African Comprehensive Assessment Institute (SACAI), nationally.

The National Senior Certificate results will be published in Independent Media daily newspapers today, Tuesday January 14.

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Matric class of 2024 scores record 87. 3% pass rate