Western Cape matriculants come out on top

The Western Cape came out tops again with an 80% matric pass rate. Gauteng came second at 74.6%, Free State 70.4%, Northern Cape obtained 70.3%, North West 67.2%, KwaZulu-Natal 63.8%, Mpumalanga 60.7%, Limpopo 57.9% and the Eastern Cape 56.9%.

The overall national percentage is 65.2% - down by 1.2% from last year.

Political parties have added their voices to those who've expressed concern over the drop in this year's pass rate. United Democratic Movement leader Bantu Holomisa says it's time to stop playing the blame game and take action.

Meanwhile North West education officials are pleased with their matric results, given the problems the province has faced this year. These include schooling at Khutsong coming to a standstill for about six weeks due to demarcation protests and the teachers' strike. The province also had to address the issue of 96 under-performing schools which are mostly in rural areas.

Students can access their results by using the SABC’s mobile news service NewsBreak on 082 152 option 6. Callers should have student exam and ID numbers handy to access the results.