Most private schools in South Africa writethe IEB exams, while public schools writeexams administered by the state.
(Image: Emily Visser)
School-leaving matric candidates who wrote their 2010 final exams under the Independent Examinations Board (IEB) had reason to smile on Tuesday 4 January, with more than 98% passing their exams – 1% more than last year.
A 98.38% pass rate was achieved in the 2010 IEB National Senior Certificate (NSC) exams, with a total of 8 285 pupils from 172 schools writing the exams in late 2010.
Most of those who passed – 81.5% – qualified for entry to degree study, 14.5% for diploma study and 2.4% qualified to study at the higher certificate level.
“These performances reflect the dedication of the teachers to the very important work they do,” IEB chief executive Anne Oberholzer said in a statement. “They reflect too the amount of work that learners have done to ensure that they know and understand the important aspects of the subjects they have studied. Their education, as reflected in their results, ensures them of a successful future in their selected area of study or occupation.”
Most private schools in South Africa write the IEB exams, while public schools write exams administered by the state.
Oberholzer added that last year’s exams had seen an increase in the number of pupils writing the IEB Mathematics Paper 3 among the IEB pupils.
“Since the inception of the NSC in 2008, participation in Mathematics Paper 3 at the IEB has increased by 68.5% from 1 414 candidates in 2008 to 2 383 candidates in 2010.”
In 2010 a benchmarking study by UK Naric, a British agency which provides information and advice about vocational, academic and professional skills and qualifications from all over the world, found the NSC to be a school-leaving qualification on a par with the international best.
“From that study we have been reassured that the NSC is a qualification with an underlying level that is both robust and fit for the purposes of examining senior secondary school levels,” Oberholzer said. “In terms of the qualification’s comparability, the report concludes that the National Senior Certificate at Grade 12 is broadly comparable to the GCE Advanced Subsidiary (AS-level).”
Public school matric results will be released on Thursday 6 January. Students will be able to get their results from their schools, via text message or in national newspapers.
The suspension of classes during the 2010 World Cup and the public servants’ strike are both expected to have a bearing on the results.
• On Thursday, students can get their results via text message from the SABC News Matric Results SMS Service by texting their identity number to 35935 and their examination number in the reply SMS. Alternatively, they can call 082 152, select option 6 and listen to their results after punching in the relevant digits.
