The Independent Examinations Board (IEB) has recorded a 98.92% matric pass rate for 2018 compared to last year's 98.76%.

The IEB exam results were released at midnight.

Umalusi‚ the examination standardisation body‚ monitored the marking and results and declared the results to be fair and valid‚ according to a statement put out by the IEB

It said that 11,514 full-time and 858 part-time candidates from 249 examination centres across Southern Africa wrote the National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations.

This is up fractionally from 11,464 full-time candidates and 666 part-time candidates in 2017.

All candidates who passed achieved a pass that is good enough to enter tertiary study at one of the three levels:

• 90.65% (compared to 88.50% in 2017) of the cohort achieved entry to degree study;
• 7.33% (compared to 8.95% in 2017) qualified for entry to diploma study; and
• 0.95% (compared to 1.30% in 2017) achieved entry for study at the higher certificate level.

In 2018, the list of designated subjects were removed and there was an increase in the percentage pass rate for entry to bachelor degree studies.

Previously, in addition to the normal pass requirements for the NSC, the attainment of 50% or more in a minimum of four designated subjects was required for entry to degree study, the IEB said.

Learners must still get 50% in a minimum of four subjects, however, the 50% requirement applied to any subject excluding Life Orientation.

The closing date for the application for re-marking is January 10 2019 and the results from re-marking are expected to be released on February 6 2019.

The closing date for learners who qualify to enrol for the supplementary examination is  February 15 2019.

Headmaster of St John's College Paul Edey praised his learners on the "outstanding set of matric results".

“This has been a truly exceptional year,” Edey said.

“More than 40 percent of the St John’s class of 2018 achieved an academic average of at least 80 percent. Seventy-one percent of St John’s College students achieved an average of at least 70 percent. ”

The 141 St John’s matriculants bagged 433 distinctions.

St David’s Marist Inanda continued to shine in Mathematics after one of their pupil's achieved 99% for Mathematics, while 15 others achieved above 90%.

Over 35% of Mathematics students achieved an A symbol and 75% of pupils achieved an A symbol in  Maths Literacy.

Headmaster Mike Thiel said the class of 2018 “excelled on a number of fronts this year and has produced a set of academic results that reflect their efforts and commitment to achieve their academic potential”.

The top students were Gianluca Rizzo, Mohamed Fayaaz Cassim and Max Matheussen who each achieved eight distinctions.

The 96 matriculants at St Stithians Girls’ College in Johannesburg all passed, with 94 achieving university exemption.

Kate Pringle and Jennavieve Williams were the top performers passing summa cum laude, an average of 90% and above.

All 150 matriculants from St Stithians Boys’ College passed, with 144 qualifying for Bachelor degree studies.

Jason Brown, Kylen Govender, Ijaz Mohamed, Nicholas Rogers and Lukas van der Merwe all passed summa cum laude, an average of 90% and above.

Top matriculant at Kingsmead College was Husnaa Bux who achieved nine distinctions.

The school said Bux had been “respectful and humble, never seeing her own achievement at the expense of others”.

“She loved leading the school as Kingsmead’s head girl for 2018 and was well liked and respected by her peers and staff alike … Husnaa loves to read and play hockey and has an interest in travel. She hopes to study medicine in 2019 and specialise in medical research.”

Headmaster Lisa Kaplan said: “We are immensely proud of our class of 2018 and our academic staff. These outstanding results continue to place Kingsmead College as a leading academic independent school in South Africa.” 

-TMG Digital