Abigail Kok, the top achiever in the country, hails from George in the Western Cape. The Western Cape Class of 2025 has delivered the highest matric pass rate and bachelor’s pass rate ever for our province. Western Cape MEC for Education David Maynier said the matric pass rate increased from last year’s record-breaking 86.6% to 88.2%, which is the highest pass rate our province has received since the National Senior Certificate was introduced.
Minister of Basic Education Siviwe Gwarube announced that the country had made history with the National Senior Certificate (NSC) pass rate of 88% with KwaZulu-Natal achieving 90.6%. Gwarube announced the results for the provinces: In ninth place, the Eastern Cape achieved a pass rate of 84.17%, in eighth place, Limpopo increased to 86.15%, in seventh place, Mpumalanga achieved a pass rate of 86.55%, in sixth place, the Northern Cape achieved a pass rate of 87.79% – marking the biggest improvement of all the provinces. She said in fifth place, the Western Cape achieved a pass rate of 88.20%, in fourth place, North West achieved a pass rate of 88.49%, in third place, Gauteng achieved a pass rate of 89.06%, in second place, the Free State achieved a pass rate of 89.33%, and the best performing province is KwaZulu-Natal with a pass rate of 90.6%.
“Nationally, the NSC pass rate is 88% – an increase of around 0.7% from 2024,” she stated. “88% is the highest pass rate in our country’s history.” Western Cape MEC for Education David Maynier said the matric pass rate increased from last year’s record-breaking 86.6% to 88.2%, which is the highest pass rate our province has received since the National Senior Certificate was introduced. Maynier said he was proud of the class of 2025, who had once again made history: “Our bachelor’s pass rate, a key indicator of quality matric passes, increased from 47.8% to 49.2%.
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“This is also the highest ever for the Western Cape, and the 2nd highest in the country,” he said. “Our candidates have achieved the 2nd highest distinction rate in the country, with 13,234 candidates earning a total of 31,220 distinctions in 2025. We top the country’s scores in Mathematics, achieving a pass rate of 73.7% for Mathematics.
Our candidates delivered the 2nd highest Physical Science pass rate in the country, at 80.6%.” Maynier added that Learners with Special Education Needs’ matric pass rate is 91.9%, and we have the 2nd highest bachelor’s pass rate for LSEN candidates in the country at 60.4%. Incredibly, the Class of 2025 achieved this with the highest retention rate in the country at 70.0%, which is also the top retention rate our province has had since 2021. This means we have more learners with the opportunity to pass their exams and finish school on schedule, so they can start their careers and further their studies.
Two of candidates received the top awards on the national stage. Abigail Kok, from York High School in George, is the Class of 2025’s top candidate and the top candidate in Physical Science, Maynier revealed. “This is an incredible achievement, and the 5th year in a row that the top candidate in the country is from the Western Cape.” the Minister applauded her.
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