Matric 2026: Will these four problems rear their heads again?

As the matric class of 2026 start their road to high school finals, Umalusi has admitted that one “unending” issue plagues it year after year. The quality assurance body briefed parliament’s portfolio committee on basic education and the select committee on education, science and creative industries on Tuesday, describing examination irregularities as a recurring headache. When presenting its overview on the November 2025 National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations in January, Umalusi flagged “the unending cases of irregularities that are uncovered on an annual basis”.

This includes the phenomenon of group copying. Umalusi CEO Dr Mafu Rakometsi said that the 2025 quality assurance reports indicated “that the phenomenon of group copying affects all the qualifications, albeit in varying degrees”. “At the same time, we remain seriously concerned that particular provinces recur in the reports dealing with such malpractices.

“We urge all provincial education departments and private assessment bodies to tighten their systems to protect the overall credibility of the examinations,” Rakometsi added. The admission raises questions about whether the problem will persist into the 2026 examination cycle. Umalusi also updated members of parliament (MPs) on the leakage of NSC Mathematics Papers 1 and 2, Physical Sciences Papers 1 and 2, and English Home Language Papers 1 to 3 in Tshwane.

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The National Investigation Task Team (NITT) presented its findings to Umalusi’s executive committee on 6 January 2026. According to the findings, the “leak was contained to around 40 candidates out of a total population of approximately 600 000 who wrote the examination in the three subjects”. The affected subjects included Physical Sciences (204 957 candidates), Mathematics (254 413) and English HL (135 090).

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