While the country celebrates the achievements of the matric class of 2025, the record-breaking 88% pass rate has drawn sharp criticism from several political parties.
Basic education minister Siviwe Gwarube announced the official National Senior Certificate (NSC) results on Monday, marking the highest pass rate in the history of South Africa’s education system.
Of the 921,000 pupils who sat for the 2025 examinations, 345,000 achieved bachelor’s passes. However, the results were tempered by a decline in the mathematics pass rate, which dropped from 69% in 2024 to 64% in 2025.
Despite the high official percentage, Build One SA (Bosa) and ActionSA have rejected the narrative of success, pointing to the number of students who actually finish school compared with those who started.
Bosa labelled the 88% pass rate as “misleading”, calculating a “real” pass rate of only 54.7%. Their data suggests that nearly half of the pupils who began Grade 1 in 2014 did not matriculate in 2025.
“Of the 1,250,791 learners who began school in Grade 1 in 2014, just 684,640 full-time learners passed matric in 2025,” said Bosa spokesperson Roger Solomons. “This means over 566,000 young people didn’t make it.”
Solomons acknowledged that while some pupils may have moved into vocational training, many simply dropped out.
The party continues to advocate for raising the minimum pass mark to 50% — a motion recently rejected by parliament.
“The 30% pass mark is nothing more than Bantu education in the modern era,” Solomons added. “It is a policy that entrenches low expectations and masks systemic failure.”
ActionSA echoed these concerns, calculating its own “real” pass rate of 57.7% based on the number of pupils who entered Grade 10 in 2023.
“Despite the minister’s triumphal rhetoric, nearly half of the learners who started the final phase of schooling did not successfully complete matric,” said ActionSA MP Lerato Ngobeni.
Ngobeni argued that success is currently defined by “shrinking the denominator” rather than improving outcomes. “It is a system where political comfort is prioritised over honest measurement and reform.”
Meanwhile, other parties, including the ANC, EFF, DA and Rise Mzansi, welcomed the results and congratulated the pupils.
The EFF praised the matriculants but called for urgent state investment in education infrastructure.
“South Africa’s youth have shown what is possible when given the opportunity; it is the duty of the state to ensure those opportunities expand,” said spokesperson Sinawo Thambo.
The ANC encouraged graduates to explore post-school opportunities, including service in the military and the police. The party also highlighted government-supported programmes such as Funza Lushaka, nursing training and other priority skills initiatives.
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