The IEB (Independent Examinations Board) National Senior Certificate Results have been released and the class of 2022 scored a 98.42% overall pass rate, slightly higher than last year’s pass rate of 98.39%.

All candidates who passed achieved a pass that grants access to tertiary study at one of the three levels:

• 89.32% of the cohort achieved entry to degree study, compared to 89.2% in 2021.
• 7.52% qualified for entry to diploma study, compared to 7.82% in 2021.
• 1.57% achieved entry for study at the Higher Certificate level, compared to 1.37% in 2021.

12 580 full-time and 945 part-time candidates from 232 examination centres writing in 262 venues across Southern Africa wrote the Independent Examinations Board (IEB) National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations in October and November 2022. This is fewer than the 12 857 full-time candidates and 968 part-time candidates in 2021.

Anne Oberholzer, CEO of the Independent Examinations Board, has lauded the outstanding performance of the 2022 cohort of students.

“There is enough credible research on the impact of Covid-19 on the educational aspects of children to provide insight into where we are at, in coming out of the pandemic almost three years later. It is fair to say that it is the 2022 cohort of learners that were hardest hit by the impact of the pandemic when it broke in 2020 in their grade 10 year. Various strategies have been employed to try and mitigate these – moving teaching online, pen and paper distance education, catch-up programs, weekend school lessons and so on – some more successful than others.”

Oberholzer says while the class of 2022 has seen how previous Grade 12 classes of 2020 and 2021 managed to adapt to a new reality, this was the class that missed out the most in their Grade 10 and Grade 11 years which are fundamentally important to success in their grade 12 performance.

“They have had to work hard to maintain their drive and perseverance to succeed and in many respects, dig deep to play catch up in terms of lost time and experiences. The social and emotional impact of the pandemic on learners cannot be overlooked – the impact of lockdown, the absence of normal social interaction with friends and engagement in the social activities of teenagers should not be under-estimated. The dedication of the teaching community to implement various strategies to support their classes during this black swan event is exemplary. The IEB congratulates the candidates, their teachers and parents for a job extraordinarily well done.”

The closing date for the application for remarking is Tuesday 31 January 2023 and the results from re-marking will be released on Wednesday 1 March 2023.

Applications for IEB learners who qualify to enrol for the May/June examinations will be open from 1 March to 15 March 2023.