Build One South Africa (BOSA) leader Mmusi Maimane has described the National Senior Certificate results as “misleading and ineffectual.”
This comes after Minister of Basic Education Siviwe Gwarube delivered the outcome of the 2025 matric exams on Monday.
Maimane said the true matric pass rate stands at just 54.7% when measured using cohort data.
“Of the 1,250,791 learners who began Grade 1 in 2014, only 684,640 full-time learners passed matric in 2025. This means more than 566,000 young people did not make it through the system. Today, South Africans are being deceived. A 30% mark is not a pass and should never be used for reporting system performance,” he said.
Maimane said that the country needs a minister of education who is not a caretaker managing failure through the bandaid of manipulated statistics.
“We need a real reformer leading the department of basic education. We can’t have equal education while maintaining Bantu Education by another name,” he said.
Meanwhile, Minister Gwarube while delivering the results said South Africans must end myth that 30% is a pass rate
“The NSC [National Senior Certificate] is earned by meeting minimum requirements across a full subject package, including higher thresholds in key subjects, with different pass types that open different pathways after school. In turn, learners need to achieve the right marks in the right subjects in the NSC exams to gain entry into their preferred programme at a higher education level.”
Gwarube also noted the increase in enrolments for mathematics, accounting, physical science.
“More learners writing mathematics doesn’t automatically mean better results. If we want to widen access to gateway subjects, we have to make sure learners have the strong foundational skills to take on these subjects successfully, gain confidence in them, and open the doors to further study and meaningful participation in the economy. Without that, simply increasing enrolments won’t be enough.
No tags for this post.
