The 2020 matric pass rate for private school pupils is 98.07% – slightly lower than the 98.82% achieved in 2019, but a minor drop considering the challenges the Covid-19 pandemic inflicted on the academic year.
There was also a slight decline in the number of pupils achieving entry to degree study from 89.51% in 2019 to 88.42% last year. At least 8.14% of pupils qualified for admission to diploma studies while 1.51% qualified for study at the Higher Certificate level.
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A total of 12,024 full-time and 1,139 part-time candidates from 233 exam centres across SA wrote the National Senior Certificate exams that were administered by the Independent Examinations Board (IEB).
The IEB confirmed in a statement that the impact of Covid-19 on the schooling population resulted in several pupils postponing the completion of their Grade 12 studies to this year.
Some schools were able to make a smooth transition to online teaching and learning as they had the resources available and in fact had already been using them in the normal course of events.
Anne Oberholzer, CEO of the IEB, said it was interesting to note that the hard lockdown had differing impacts across schools within the IEB.
“Some schools were able to make a smooth transition to online teaching and learning as they had the resources available and in fact had already been using them in the normal course of events.
“Their teachers were experienced in this mode of delivery, as were their learners who had access to devices and stable internet connectivity.”
She said, however, that many schools could not deploy an online teaching model, either because the school or the majority of pupils did not have adequate resources.
“To fulfil their commitment to teach their learners and not be defeated by the pandemic, teachers in these situations reverted to traditional distance education strategies.”
She said that in some cases, teachers prepared weekly learning programmes for pupils using textbook references and notes together with prepared exercises and tasks.
“These were e-mailed to learners where possible, physically delivered to learners or collected by them and family members from the school. The completed tasks were returned to the school for marking.”
Oberholzer said the excellent performance of the class of 2020 under very difficult circumstances “underscores the importance of the years of good, solid teaching and learning prior to the Grade 12 year”.
On top of all the work, there was the Covid-19 pandemic that meant we all had to adapt really quickly to a strange and unfamiliar situation.
— Top achiever Andy Qu
Meanwhile, 126 boys from St John’s College in Johannesburg bagged a total of 357 distinctions.
The school achieved a 100% pass rate, and almost 98% gained entry to degree study with seven boys achieving a 90% average in the exams.
Stuart West, executive headmaster at St John’s College, said these achievements would be exceptional under any circumstances “let alone a year so badly affected by the coronavirus pandemic”.
“The St John’s matric pupils drew heavily on their developed resilience, disciplined work ethic and confidence to problem-solve on their own to achieve excellent results across the board.”
St John’s top achiever Andi Qu achieved eight distinctions and an average of 96.4% in the exams.
Among his peers, Kei Prior achieved nine distinctions and a 94.1% average, while Gustav Kruger got nine distinctions and a 91.3% average.
Qu said being in matric in 2020 was tough.
“On top of all the work, there was the Covid-19 pandemic that meant we all had to adapt really quickly to a strange and unfamiliar situation. Our teachers were fantastic though, and we got great support in the online learning environment. St John’s handled final exams really well, too. The exam setup was seamless, and didn’t add to the stress.”
The Grade 12s have done themselves and the school proud.
— Headmistress Sue Tasker, The Wykeham Collegiate
All the girls from The Wykeham Collegiate in Pietermaritzburg qualified for degree study.
The pupils achieved 256 distinctions, with 29 girls achieving four or more distinctions.
The top three achievers who bagged eight distinctions each were Tahiya Essa, Rachel Lock and Clarice van Niekerk.
Headmistress Sue Tasker said in a statement that the school was delighted with its matric results.
“The Grade 12s have done themselves and the school proud, and we congratulate all of them on their results.”
Eight pupils from the Glenwood Cambridge International School in Durban produced outstanding IGCSE and AS level results. The pupils included Sudarshen Rampersad (chemistry 92%, geography 87% and maths 92%); Tyler Ishler (English 85%, maths 90% and physics 85%); Kimayar Naidoo (English 80% and French 81%); Ryan Gobind (computer science 82%, physics 83% and maths 90%).
The matric results for public schools will be released next week.
