Matric exams officially over

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Candidates wrote the Agricultural Science and Design papers in the morning and afternoon sessions, respectively.

The Department of Basic Education said a total of 802 636 candidates started to write the NSC examinations from 16 October. About 634 527 of those were full-time learners.

The department’s Minister Angie Motshekga said the 2017 NSC examinations have been free of any major incident.

“The department would like to thank the learners and the commitment of teachers who worked tirelessly throughout the year to ensure that candidates were prepared, and that the integrity of the NSC examinations continues to be upheld,” said Minister Motshekga.

This year, the department beefed up security and the protection of the integrity of the NSC examinations.

This was done to mitigate the impact of anticipated risks associated with the storage and movement of examination scripts.

This was done by employing the ‘Just in Time’ printing approach, which allowed for examination scripts to be printed as close as logistically possible to the writing of the examination.

The department said the marking process of millions of examination scripts has already begun in Gauteng and Limpopo.

“The remaining provinces are due to commence on Wednesday. There are about 44 911 markers and 144 marking centres across the country checking more than 10 million answer sheets,” said the department.

Despite minor disruptions caused by protest marches that took place during this period, the department said these presented no significant threat to the administration of the 2017 NSC examinations.

Minister Motshekga will release the examination results on 4 January 2018 and learners will be able to receive their results at their school or Examination Centre on 5 January 2018.