2020 matric results released

The National Senior Certificate (NSC) pass rate stands at 76.2%, announced Basic Education Minister, Angie Motshekga, yesterday.

23 Feb 2021

While the matric class of 2020 has been commended for this achievement given the difficulties experienced last year, this figure represents a 5.1% decrease from the 2019 pass rate of 81.3%.

In actual numbers, of the 578,468 learners who wrote matric last year, 440,702 passed.

However, the DA has claimed that the "real" pass rate is a much lower 44.1%, if one considers that 997,872 students were enrolled in 2018, with less than 60% of that completing the exams.

The Free State recorded the highest number of passes with 85.1%, with Gauteng at 83.9% and the Western Cape rounding out the top 3 with 79.9%. The Northern Cape has the lowest pass rate of all the provinces with 66%.

Learners with special needs were commended for achieving over 600 distinctions, 943 Bachelor passes and 582 Diploma passes.