Pupils sit for their English Paper 1 for their matric final exam at Tygerberg High School on 30 October 2023 in Cape Town. Picture: Gallo Images/Die Burger/Jaco Marais
The 2023 matric results have been approved by quality assurance council Umalusi, after it found there were no systemic irregularities that would compromise the credibility or integrity of the examination results.
During a media briefing on Monday, chairperson, Professor Yunus Ballim said the council was satisfied that the assessment bodies, including the Department of Basic Education (DBE), Department of Higher Education And Training, Independent Examinations Board (IEB) and the South African Comprehensive Assessment Institute (SACAI), prepared and conducted the National Senior Certificate (NSC) exams in compliance with its requirements.
Ballim said the results of at least 511 subjects, spread across the four assessment bodies and qualifications, were analysed by Umalusi’s assessment standards committee (ASC) between 19 December 2023 and 12 January.
The council’s executive committee (exco) held a series of meetings for four days last week to approve the matric results.
“The standardisation and approval processes are conducted to safeguard the integrity and credibility of all the results presented,” he told reporters on Monday.
ALSO READ: Matric results ‘not compromised’, says Umalusi as KZN leads in group copying incidents
Standardisation is a process used to mitigate factors outside of pupils’ knowledge and aptitude.
Such factors include, but are not limited to, errors in question papers. For example, the council excluded questions that were affected by errors or poor printing quality from the marking process as this may have impacted results. This meant the marks achieved were upscaled or downscaled by using conversion tables.
Umalusi will only consider adjustments “where there was compelling evidence that it was necessary to do so”, according to its website.
Over 890 000 candidates wrote their NSC exams through the Department of Basic Education. Of these, 717 377 candidates were full-time and 181 143 were part-time.
This was 3% decrease when compared to last year’s total of 921 879.
The exams were written at 6 889 centres, with exam scripts marked at 190 centres.
A total of 66 subjects through the department were moderated by Umalusi.
READ MORE: Re-marking and supplementary exams: options available for those that failed matric
“After careful consideration of the narrative and statistical evidence available, the ASC made the following decisions: raw marks were accepted for 49 subjects, mainly upward adjustments were made in six subjects, and mainly downward adjustments were made in 11 subjects.
“These figures show an upward trend in the number of subjects for which raw marks were accepted over the last three years.
“Importantly, the number of subjects for which marks were adjusted mainly upward decreased significantly from 16 in 2022 to 6 in 2023. As mentioned, this is a signal of a maturing system,” the Umalusi chairperson said.
Ballim said the release of the department’s results since the irregularities identified during the writing and marking process were not systemic and, therefore, did not compromise the overall credibility and integrity of the matric exams.
“In respect of identified irregularities, the department is required to block the results of all candidates implicated in irregularities including the candidates who are implicated in the alleged acts of dishonesty pending the outcome of the DBE investigations and verification by Umalusi.
“Umalusi is concerned about the recurring instances of printing and packaging errors in question papers and the ongoing practice of group copying. The DBE is required to address the directives for compliance and improvement highlighted in the quality assurance of assessment report and submit an improvement plan by 15 March 2024.”
A total of 15 186 IEB candidates participated in the NSC exams at 275 centres last year. The number of candidates decreased by 1 650 compared to 2022.
The IEB presented 60 subject results for standardisation.
“After considering the available evidence, raw marks were accepted in 48 subjects and mainly upward adjustments were made in 12 subjects.”
Ballim said no subject was adjusted downward.
RELATED: Finished matric? Here’s how to apply for funding from Nsfas
“There are two noteworthy points from these figures. The first is that for the first time since 2019 no subject was adjusted downward. The second point is that the number of subjects for which raw marks were accepted has been steadily increasing since 2021.”
The IEB results have also been approved by Umalusi.
“In respect of the identified irregularities, the IEB is required to nullify the results of the candidates implicated in the irregularities.”
The private assessment body is required to submit an improvement plan by 15 March as well.
SACAI, which was granted full accreditation by Umalusi in October 2022, conducted matric exams for the second successive year.
The private assessment body registered 5 826 candidates at 103 centres for the 2023 NSC exams. This represents an increase of 874 candidates from the previous year.
SACAI submitted 25 subjects for standardisation.
“After considering all the evidence available at the time of standardisation of the results, the ASC arrived at the following decisions: raw marks were accepted for 14 subjects, results in seven subjects were adjusted mainly upward, and the results in the remaining four subjects were adjusted mainly downward.
“Moving from 2022 to 2023 there were no significant changes in the direction of the adjustments.”
More than 1.1 million candidates sat for their matric exams, with the NSC candidates contributing 80% towards the total.
This includes the general education and training certificate: adult education and training (GETC: ABET) results, which included 38 864 candidates in total from the Department of Higher Education, SACAI and IEB.
The exams were written by adults who did not complete their NSC or senior certificate as well as those who could not complete their school education due to circumstances beyond their control.
All GETC results from the three assessment bodies have been approved for release by Umalusi.
READ MORE: Matric pupils share their emotions and expectations as results day approaches
“Of the 510 subject results that were presented for standardisation, raw marks were accepted in 335 or 66% of the subjects, generally upward adjustments were made in 84 or 16% and generally downward adjustments were made in 91 or 18% of the subject results.
“Umalusi has noted specific issues that require the attention of the relevant assessment bodies.
“Whereas those issues will be included in the assessment body-specific composite report, it is worth mentioning that a high absenteeism rate has, once again, been noted in some of the subjects associated with the GETC examinations.
“Similarly, this qualification continues to record a high failure rate. This raises the question about the levels of support that candidates find in their learning and examination preparation experiences,” Ballim added.
The Matric results will be released by Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga on 18 January.
Download our app and read this and other great stories on the move. Available for Android and iOS.
