The 2017 National Senior Certificate pass rate has gone up to 75.1%. This is a 2.6% increase from the 72.5% achieved by the 2016 class.
Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga announced the overall Matric pass rate in Auckland Park, Johannesburg on Thursday evening.
“For the past seven years, we have noted that the NSC pass rate has consistently been above the 70% threshold. The Class of 2017 must be commended for maintaining this trend,” says Motshekga.
She says 534 484 full-time candidates, and 117 223 part-time candidates wrote the NSC exams in 2017.
Despite a pass rate decrease from last year, Free State once again beats other provinces to emerge as the best performing province of 2017 with 89.8% excluding progressed students. This is a 3.4% decrease from 2016.
Gauteng is the second best performing province for 2017 with 86%. Eastern Cape is the worst performing province with a pass rate of 65.8%, however it had a 2.5% increase. KwaZulu-Natal experienced the biggest increase from last year. The province’s pass rate increased by 4.7% to 73.6%.
The Free State also produced the top performing districts. The other seven are from Gauteng, with the Western Cape completing the top 10.
Of the students who wrote, 28.7% qualify for bachelor studies, 30.2% diploma studies and 16.1% higher certificate studies. Just 99 passed with a national senior certificate.
In 2017, a total of 161 081 distinctions were obtained, most of them, 28% coming from KwaZulu-Natal. Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo, the lowest performing provinces, produced nearly 50% of the distinctions.
Motshekga says 7 861 distinctions were achieved in Physical Science, 6 726 distinctions were in Mathematics and 5 040 in Accounting.
Female students obtained 62.6% of the distinctions. Motshekga says 57 918 more girls than boys, who wrote the 2017 NSC examinations. However 28.5% of the girls qualified for bachelor studies, 0.5% less than their male counter parts.
“Once again, I take off my hat to the Class of 2017, and I wish them the best in their future. I believe that you will continue to shine wherever you are,” says Motshekga.
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