Dear Matriculant Class of 2010: I am sure by now you are tired of all the advice about your senior certificate exams and how the Grade 12 results will determine your future.

Actually, most of what you heard in the run-up to the examinations is very bad advice.

First of all, the Grade 12 exams do not determine your future. In fact, most universities no longer look at the Grade 12 results alone, but also at a range of other assessments, including the National Benchmark Tests, to determine whether to admit you to higher learning or not.

Second, as you know, it is possible in South Africa to pass some subjects with 30% or 40%. If this is your aim, my advice to you is spare yourself the pressure of the final exams.

Go into that examination with the aim of passing well. Our school system is based on mediocrity not excellence; it bestows favour on those who scrape through, rather than those who outstrip their potential.

Third, there is nothing you can do in the last month before an exam. Adults have lied to you if they pushed you into cram schools or spring camps under the illusion that you can take three years of senior learning and press this into your head within a few weeks. All that nonsense you hear about students who stayed up all night to write the examination the next morning is dangerous.

The month before and the night before is a time to rest, to do simple revision and not to stress yourself.

Fourth, and this is going to hurt, if you did not study steadily, all year round, you are not going to pass. If you did not use the time productively while your teachers went on strike, expect the worst.

Fifth, and this is going to hurt even more, at least two of your subjects have nothing to do with your further education. The one is life orientation and the other is mathematical literacy. Do not get me wrong, any meaningful learning in these two areas will probably make you a better citizen or a more informed consumer; stuff like that.

Sixth, most of you should not go to university to begin with. Society has given you the wrong message about post-school learning opportunities. I hope more and more of you will pursue high-quality vocational training through further education and training colleges or their equivalent.

Seventh, you are smarter than any examination can foretell. If you do well, congratulations. If not, one page of poor results is not the end of the world. I will be holding thumbs for all of you. Write well.