The release of the 2025 National Senior Certificate (NSC) results has sparked both celebration and critical reflection among South African education experts. This year, just over 910,000 learners sat for the matric examinations, making it the largest cohort in the history of the country’s schooling system.

The results are remarkable: the overall pass rate reached a record 88%, the highest ever recorded. Yet, behind this milestone, experts warn that persistent challenges in key subjects and structural inequalities continue to affect learner outcomes.

Professor Mbulu Madiba, Dean of the Faculty of Education at Stellenbosch University, described the results as “highly impressive,” emphasising that the NSC system has shown steady progress and is increasingly becoming a reliable predictor of learner academic competencies.

“This was the largest matric cohort ever recorded and achieved the highest pass rate in the country’s history,” Madiba said.

Despite this achievement, Madiba cautions that challenges remain, particularly in subjects such as Mathematics, Accounting, and Physical Science.

“While learner participation in Mathematics increased slightly, the pass rate declined,” Madiba noted.

The decline is linked to persistent weaknesses in foundational numeracy and a shortage of competent mathematics teachers. Research indicates that some teachers do not have adequate mastery of the content they are expected to teach, underscoring the need for stronger professional development and targeted support.

Madiba highlighted that difficulties in gateway subjects point to deeper systemic issues.

“Challenges in Mathematics and Physical Science reflect weaknesses in foundational education and insufficient professional development support for teachers,” Madiba explained.

The higher failure rates in these subjects have implications for learner readiness for tertiary education, particularly in scarce-skills fields where Mathematics and Physical Science are prerequisites.

Inequality in the schooling system remains a concern. Madiba notes that while roughly 66% of bachelor’s passes were achieved by learners from no-fee schools, well-resourced schools continue to outperform poorer schools.

This gap points to the impact of historical and systemic inequities in resources, teaching quality, and school management. Madiba stressed that while the NSC results show progress, the underlying disparities in South Africa’s education system are still evident.

Professor Murthee Maistry, a member of Umalusi’s assessment standards committee, provided additional context on the size and diversity of the 2025 cohort. The examination included approximately 130,000 part-time learners who did not attend formal schooling this year, whose levels of preparedness could vary significantly compared to full-time learners.

“As can be expected of any large education system, improvements in overall pass rates are typically marginal from year to year,” Maistry said.

“Matric teachers did not miraculously become better at teaching, nor are learners suddenly smarter than their predecessors.”

Maistry further emphasised the importance of targeted interventions such as Winter Schools, Autumn Schools, and weekend classes for underperforming learners.

“These programmes, which start from Grade 10, are beginning to pay off,” Maistry said.

However, there is a risk that outside-school-hour programmes create a parallel system, potentially reducing the effectiveness of regular classroom teaching.

Both Madiba and Maistry highlighted another important factor: dropout rates. According to data presented by the Department of Basic Education to Umalusi, the 2025 cohort began Grade 10 in 2023 with 1,187,468 learners, but only 778,793 reached Grade 12.

This represents a loss of over 400,000 learners during the final years of high school. Madiba explained that these dropouts are likely concentrated in poorer communities and may be linked to school-level practices such as holding back weaker learners.

Maistry stressed that these figures complicate interpretations of the national pass rate, meaning that the celebrated 88% success rate reflects only those fortunate enough to have completed the examinations.

The Western Cape illustrates the variations across schools vividly. While some institutions achieved near-miraculous improvements, others saw pass rates plummet by over 30 percentage points.

Nuwerus High School achieved the most significant turnaround, jumping from 68.4% in 2024 to a perfect 100% in 2025. Vista High School made a leap of 28.3%, climbing from 51.3% to 79.6%. Other high performers include Beauvallon Sekonder (+27.3%), Forest Heights High (+21.1%), and Maitland Sekonder (+20.5%). Silikamva High School also achieved a flawless 100% pass rate this year, up from 94.3% in 2024.

Conversely, several schools faced difficult years. Sunningdale School (LSEN) dropped from 100% to 66.7%, St Andrew’s Sekonder fell to 44.9%, and Houtbaai Sekonder declined from 93.6% to 62.9%. Other schools experiencing declines include the Dominikaanse Skool vir Dowes (-25%) and Fezekile Secondary (-16.4%).

Despite these shifts, top-tier public schools such as Bloemhof HS, Westerford HS, and Rhenish Girls’ HS maintained consistent 100% pass rates, reflecting a standard of excellence at the highest-performing institutions.

Both experts stress that these results underscore the dual nature of South African schooling: pockets of remarkable success exist alongside schools that face persistent structural challenges.

Both Madiba and Maistry agree that while the 2025 results mark progress, they also expose the work that remains to be done. Madiba emphasised that interventions must be research-driven and context-specific, rather than one-size-fits-all.

“Teacher competence, both in terms of subject knowledge and teaching ability, is crucial,” Madiba said. He advocated for partnerships between schools, universities, businesses, and communities to develop localised strategies for improvement.

Maistry added that incremental gains in pass rates should not be overstated. “The education system cannot change dramatically from one year to the next,” Maistry noted. Nonetheless, the sustained improvements over the last decade show that structured, targeted programmes can positively affect learner outcomes.

Providing a frontline view, Andre De Bruyn, chairperson of the Education Union of South Africa (EUSA), framed the results in the context of systemic challenges facing teachers and learners.

“As a union, our stance at the beginning of this year must be firm: stop shifting systemic collapse onto classrooms, stop measuring success by pass rates alone, stop demanding miracles without providing conditions,” De Bruyn said.

He urged urgent reforms, including honest reporting on learner progression and dropout, early structured remediation, reduced administrative burdens, real alternatives to purely academic pathways, and smaller class sizes.

“When teachers are supported, learners succeed. When systems are honest, schools improve. When pathways are diverse, dignity is restored,” De Bruyn said.

He concluded with a stark warning: “Fix the system, stop blaming the classroom. Education is not a factory line. It is a human process. And it requires truth, courage and structural change.”

tracy-lynn.ruiters@inl.co.za

Weekend Argus 

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