Independent schools achieve 98.46% matric pass rate
The Independent Examinations Board, which typically releases its results earlier than the Department of Basic Education, said it recorded a slight improvement from the 98.42% achieved in 2022.
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JOHANNESBURG - Independent schools have achieved an overall pass rate of 98.46% for their 2023 National Senior Certificate (NSC) exams.
According to the Independent Examinations Board (IEB), this is a slight improvement from the 98.42% achieved in 2022.
The board said 88.59% of the pupils achieved entry to study towards degrees at tertiary institutions.
A total of 15,180 full-time as well as part-time candidates sat for their IEB exams between November and October 2023 at 275 exam centres.
Traditionally, the IEB releases its results before the Department of Basic Education publishes the national pass rate.
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Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga will announce the results of at least 900,000 matric exam candidates later Thursday.
They have expressed mixed feelings as they anticipate the release of their results on Friday.
“At the end of the day, everything has already been done and submitted, so all we can do is just hope that our hard work paid off,” said one matric exam candidate.
“Matriculants, worked hard - I’m sure it’s going to be a positive result,” another expressed.
“I’m not quite happy about the release of matric results because we just got the news that Umalusi is going to deduct our marks, and some of us have chances of being accepted into universities. But now that our marks have been deducted it’s like they wanted us to fail,” one, however, lamented.
Meanwhile, the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG) said it was important for matric exam candidates and their parents to know how to navigate unexpected outcomes.
The group said it's hosting webinars on social media to deal with the anxiety that comes with the release of results.
"We would like to engage in a conversation with students and parents to talk to them about the fact that this is just one part of your journey and one chapter in your life, and what you can do, should you get results you don't expect,” said SADAG's Roshni Seetha.