Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga announced the results of the 2018 National Senior Certificate examinations in Midrand on Thursday evening.
The class of 2018 achieved an impressive 78.2% pass rate, beating 75.1% of 2017, but the minister also shared a breakdown of these results. We look at the results by the numbers:
How many pupils registered to write the National Senior Certificate exams?
* Approximately 800 800 pupils registered for the November 2018 NSC examinations
* Of these, 625 000 were full-time candidates and
* 176 000 part-time candidates.
Did every student who registered actually write the exams?
No, approximately 512 700 full-time candidates and 117 660 part-time candidates actually wrote all seven subjects of the 2018 NSC exams.
Pass rates per province:
* Gauteng - 87.9%
* Free State - 87.5%
* Western Cape - 81.5%
* North West - 81.1%
* Mpumalanga - 79%
* KwaZulu-Natal - 76.2%
* Northern Cape - 73.3%
* Eastern Cape - 70.6%
* Limpopo - 69.5%
Bachelor pass vs Diploma and Higher Certificate pass
* 172 000 candidates qualify for admission to Bachelor studies
* 141 700 candidates qualify for admission to Diploma studies
* 86 800 qualify for admission to Higher Certificate studies
Logistics
* 147 question papers were set
* 8 million question papers were printed
* 7.6 million scripts were produced and delivered countrywide
* roughly 7 000 secure examination centres were established
* 65 000 invigilators and 41 000 markers were appointed
* 141 secure marking centres were set up
Progressed learners
How many learners per province passed the NSC exam after being progressed to Grade 12?
* 70.3% of progressed learners passed in Gauteng;
* 65.2% of the Free State’s progressed learners passed
* 63.4% of Mpumalanga’s progressed learners passed
* 63.4% of KwaZulu Natal’s progressed learners passed
* 56.9% of progressed learners in North West passed
* 56.5% of the Eastern Cape’s progressed learners passed
* 40.2% of the Northern Cape’s progressed learners passed; and
* 33.6% of the Western Cape’s progressed learners passed
Pupils with special needs
* 3 856 learners with special educational needs wrote the 2017 NSC examinations, representing an increase of 39.9% from 2017
* 3 051 learners with special educational needs passed the exams
* 1 669 learners with special educational needs achieved Bachelor passes
* 861 learners with special educational needs achieved Diploma passes
* 402 learners with special educational needs achieved Higher Certificate passes and
* 199 learners with special educational needs obtained endorsed NSC passes.
Pupils with special educational needs attained 1 927 distinctions, including subjects such as Accounting, Business Studies, Economics, Mathematics and Physical Science.
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