BASIC Education Minister Angie Motshekga has said the national pass rate has dropped nationally by 2.4 percent. The matric class of 2014 achieved a pass rate of 75.8%, a decrease from the 2013 pass rate of 78.2%.
The National Senior Certificate (NSC) examination was written by 550 127 full-time and 138 533 part-time candidates.
Motshekga said the bar had been raised to improve the quality of the examination outcome and enhance the quality and standard of Grade 12 graduates.
“At the beginning of the exams, I did announce much more stringent marking criteria. Marker appointments were also audited and a tighter moderation process was put in place,” she said.
Provincial performance
The Minister congratulated the Gauteng province for coming in first position in the 2014 matric results, recording an 84.7% pass rate.
Gauteng contributed the highest number of candidates qualifying for Bachelor studies in 2014 at 36 843, followed by KwaZulu-Natal with 35 724 and Western Cape at 18 524.
KZN achieved 69.7%, a decline from 77.4% in 2013, and a drop of 7.7 percentage points. It is the steepest decline of all the provinces.
