There is a slight increase in the matric results, with the Class of 2021 achieving a 76.4% pass rate, a 0.2 percentage point improvement, basic education minister Angie Motshekga announced in Auckland Park, Johannesburg, on Thursday evening.

Motshekga said: “It is important to remind the nation that for the past 10 years, the NSC pass rates have consistently been going up from 60% in 2009, to above 70% in recent years. The Class of 2021 must be commended for maintaining this trend, despite the astronomical challenges they faced.”

Motshekga said the number of candidates who passed with a diploma was 177,572, which reflected an improvement of 17.8% from 2020.

She said this “represents 25.2% of the total number of candidates, who wrote the 2021 NSC examinations”.

The Free State was once again the best-performing province followed by Gauteng and the Western Cape.

“The Free State is the leading province at 85.7%, an improvement of 0.6% in 2020," Motshekga said.

She announced that five provinces recorded a pass rate above 70%.