Her spokesman, Hope Mokgatlhe, said it was the minister's decision on what information on the ANAs - written by 7.6million pupils between September 18 and 21 - to make public.

Grade 1-6 pupils and those in Grade 9 completed the tests in order to measure pupils' English and numeracy skills.

Mokgatlhe said some provinces were still marking their tests, so the minister had not yet received the final report showing district, provincial and national results.

But when she has all the data, Motshekga is expected to make the national average marks of the ANAs available, said Mokgatlhe.

Individual school averages and district averages are not made public.

Wits Professor and education expert Graeme Bloch said: "There is too much secrecy around the results."

He said despite problems that would be caused by making marks accessible, it would be better for parents if they could view school average marks.

The department's director-general, Bobby Soobrayan, had said in September that releasing all the results publicly would have "unintended consequences and be negative".

The results last year were dismal. Last year's Grade 3 average for numeracy was 28% and for literacy was 35%.

Western Cape education department spokesman Paddy Attwell said the scores the department received would be used to give feedback to schools.

Individual pupils in the Western Cape and Gauteng are currently receiving their ANA marks.

A circular sent to schools and district officials in the Western Cape thanked teachers for marking the tests and asked all schools to ensure pupils had their results by today.

Pupils at schools in Rosebank and Brixton, Johannesburg, have received their individual scores.

But some provinces, such as the Northern Cape, are still moderating the marks.

Northern Cape spokesman Sydney Stander said: "The capturing of marks nationally will be completed on November 21."