Minister Siviwe Gwarube hailed the Class of 2025’s NSC pass rate for climbing to 88%, the highest ever for more than 900,000 candidates, with KZN topping the provinces. Yet experts warn of low maths participation, slipping gateway subject performance, and sharp Grade 11-12 dropouts. Minister of Basic Education Siviwe Gwarube has announced that the National Senior Certificate (NSC) pass rate for the country’s Class of 2025 has increased to 88%, representing a 0.7% improvement over the 2024 pass rate.
“This was the largest class in history to sit for the final matric exams, with over 900,000 candidates. We are reaching more learners in Grade 12 than at any other point in decades,” she said. KwaZulu-Natal led the provincial rankings with a stellar pass rate of 90.6%, closely followed by the Free State at 89.33% in second place and Gauteng at 89.06% in third.
North West secured fourth with 88.4%, while the Western Cape took fifth at 88.2% and the Northern Cape sixth at 87.79%, marking the most significant improvement among provinces. Mpumalanga placed seventh with 86.55%, Limpopo eighth at 86.1%, and the Eastern Cape ninth at 84.17%. The overall Bachelor’s pass percentage edged down from 48% to 46%, but the actual number of achievers rose by 8,700 to more than 345,000, the highest ever recorded.
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Additionally, 28% earned diploma passes and 13.5% secured higher certificate passes. Gwarube said quantity was only the starting point. The next phase was about quality: making sure that access translated into learning, and learning translated into stronger outcomes, especially in gateway subjects.
She said the subject choices by the Class of 2025 reminded us again of the long reach of weak foundations. “Only 34% of candidates wrote Mathematics, while most wrote Mathematical Literacy. This is concerning as Mathematics is an important gateway subject,” she said.
Gwarube noted that Accounting’s pass rate slipped from 81% to 78%, while Physical Sciences edged up slightly to 77% from 76%; however, the cohort earned fewer distinctions overall in Accounting, Mathematics, and Physical Sciences compared with 2024. “As we celebrate, we do so with clear eyes. The next phase is about deeper mastery – especially in gateway subjects.
It is about increasing the number of learners taking and excelling in Mathematics, Physical Science and other gateway subjects with support, so opportunity expands without quality collapsing,” she said. Gwarube also highlighted encouraging enrolment gains in Mathematics, Accounting, Physical Sciences, and technical subjects, describing them as “a turning of the tide”, even if modest. Yet she stressed the system’s sluggish progress in these critical areas that unlock further study, scarce skills and economic opportunities.
Reacting to the release of the 2025 matric results, education experts noted several improvements, especially in provinces that have struggled because of socioeconomic challenges. They pointed to several standout strengths in the results, starting with the even performance across districts and provinces, which showed no weak links pulling down the national average. Bachelor’s passes also rose across all quintiles, a clear sign that longstanding equity gaps are beginning to close.
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