Two schools in KwaZulu-Natal, two schools in Limpopo and one each in Gauteng, North West and the Eastern Cape failed to produce a matriculant who passed the final exam.

Seven South African schools failed to produce a single successful matric pupil in 2012.

Two schools in KwaZulu-Natal, two schools in Limpopo and one each in Gauteng, North West and the Eastern Cape failed to produce a matriculant who passed the final exam.

At Mangala Senior Secondary School in Libode, Eastern Cape, all 56 matrics failed, while at Sunshine Christian Private School in the North West the entire class of 27 matrics failed, according to the report.

The only matric writing exams at Wavelength High School in Johannesburg also failed to pass.

These schools were among the 126 schools across the country that could not achieve a pass rate of 20%, The Star reported.

A 20 to 39% pass rate was obtained at 485 schools, while 1224 schools had a pass rate of between 40 to 59%.

On Wednesday, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga announced that the matric pass rate in South Africa improved in 2012, with 73.9% of grade 12s passing their final exams.

This was an improvement on the 70.2% pass rate in 2011.