Every October through November, South Africa stages one of the largest coordinated events on the African continent: the National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations.

This year, more than 920,000 matric candidates are sitting for their finals across 6,800 centres, but the Department of Basic Education (DBE) says the process is running “seamlessly.”

The NSC exams run for nearly seven weeks and involve not just pupils and teachers, but thousands of invigilators, markers, moderators, printers, and couriers.

Each paper is printed under tight security, often in undisclosed facilities, and transported under police escort to provinces and districts. From there, sealed parcels move to exam centres on the morning of each sitting.

According to the DBE, provincial command centres monitor progress daily, logging any reports of disruptions, technical glitches, or late arrivals. Problems such as power outages, transport blockades, or protest activity are tracked in real time and handled through emergency channels involving local authorities.

The department admits that isolated community protests and minor technical or administrative issues have cropped up this year, but insists these were resolved.

It’s worth noting that this is not unusual. In past years, heavy rains washed away bridges in the Eastern Cape, and learners in Limpopo wrote under candlelight during load shedding.

In 2020, a leak of the maths paper caused national uproar and forced a criminal investigation. Since then, the DBE has upgraded paper tracking systems and tightened digital access controls.

While much of the exam process still relies on physical paperwork, digital systems are increasingly central to security and monitoring.

Each province now uses a national examination computer system that logs when exam scripts are received, scanned, and stored. Certain high-risk subjects are printed on tamper-proof paper, and distribution trucks are tracked by GPS.

At marking centres, where thousands of teachers gather after the final exams, electronic moderation and verification processes help reduce human error.

It’s not a flawless system, but compared to the exam season only two decades ago, when leaks and delays were common, today’s NSC operation runs with military precision.

A “seamless” process doesn’t mean a perfect one. Learners have already complained that the 2025 mathematics papers were too difficult.

The DBE insists that all exam papers go through multiple stages of review to test clarity, curriculum coverage, and cognitive range. If an exam prove more challenging than expected, the Umalusi standardisation process steps in, which is a statistical safeguard that adjusts marks so no cohort is unfairly penalised.

The 2025 NSC in numbers

A total of 920,000 candidates registered nationwide. There are 6,800 examination centres and nine provincial command centres. There are approximately seven weeks of testing and about 40,000 markers involved post-exams.

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