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The long nail biting wait is now over, Principals, Teachers, District Directors, MECs and Premiers have been crossing their fingers to hear how they performed in their respective provinces. The Minister for Basic Education Ms Siviwe Gwarube announced the matric results on Monday, 12 January 2026.
Gwarube expressed confidence on the quality of the results, saying Umalusi has checked and verified the results. She said the matric results are a reflection of a working Government of National Unity (GNU), where cooperation and priority to build the country with education being at the centre is the order of the day.
The Minister announced a national record breaking pass rate off 88% for the class of 2025, making it the highest pass rate of the National Senior Certificate (NSC) results thus far in the GNU, up from 87.3% in 2024.
Despite challenges in gateway subjects, the class of 2025 has achieved a jaw dropping record breaking 345 000 bachelor’s passes.
Gwarube said the class of 2025 was the largest to sit for final exams in the history of the country; which means the government is reaching more learners to write exams than any other point in the country. She said quantity is but just a starting point, the next phase will be about quality making sure that access translates to learning, and learning translates into stronger outcomes especially in gateway subjects.
Announcing the results, the Minister said “for the first time all 75 districts have achieved a pass rate of above 80%.” She announced the provincial results as follows.
Provincial rankings
1st: KwaZulu-Natal – 90.6%;
2nd: Free State – 89.33%;
3rd: Gauteng – 89.06%;
4th: North West – 88.49%;
5th: Western Cape – 88.2%;
6th: Northern Cape – 87.79% (largest improvement);
7th: Mpumalanga – 86.5%;
8th: Limpopo – 86.15%; and
9th: Eastern Cape – 84.17%.
KwaZulu-Natal Province booted the Free State Province from the number one spot in the country who have become the landlords of the position for six consecutive years.
