JOHANNESBURG - 537,543 pupils wrote government's National Senior Certificate examination in 2010. 364,513 (67.8%) passed - an 11,9% increase from the 2009 pass rate. Mpumalanga (18.6%), Limpopo (18.2%), KwaZulu-Natal (15,7%) and the Eastern Cape (14.3%) all saw the biggest jump in their pass rates. The Western Cape had the smallest percentage increase (1,5%), allowing Gauteng (9.5%) to overtake it as the province with the highest pass rate. (Table 1)
The number of pupils passing with a ‘Bachelors Pass' increased to 126,371 from 109,697. This meant that 23.5% of those who wrote matric passed with the higher of the three grades of pass, up from 19.9% in 2009 (a 18,1% increase.) The Western Cape's bachelor's pass rate was down slightly from 31.9% to 30,9% (-3.1%). Most other provinces saw big percentage increases. (Table 2)
263,034 (or 48,9%) of pupils wrote the mathematics paper, 38,620 fewer than in 2009. Of these 124,749 (or 47,4%) passed with 30%, 14,104 fewer than in 2009. 81,374 (30,9%) passed with more than 40%, 9,325 fewer than in 2009. (See Tables 3 and 4.) This means that of all those who wrote matric 15,1% passed the mathematics paper with more than 40% (down from 16,4% last year).
Table 1: Overall pass rate change 2009-2010:
2009
2010
Point Increase
% increase
Gauteng
71.8
78.6
6.8
9.5%
WCape
75.7
76.8
1.1
1.5%
KZN
61.1
70.7
9.6
15.7%
FS
69.4
70.7
1.3
1.9%
ECape
51
58.3
7.3
14.3%
NWest
67.5
75.7
8.2
12.1%
Ncape
61.3
72.3
11
17.9%
Limpopo
48.9
57.8
8.9
18.2%
Mpumalanga
47.9
56.8
8.9
18.6%
National
60.6
67.8
7.2
11.9%
Table 2: Bachelor's pass rate change 2009-2010:
2009
2010
Point increase
% increase
Gauteng
29.1
33.9
4.8
16.5%
WCape
31.9
30.9
-1
-3.1%
KZN
19.9
25.7
5.8
29.1%
FState
20.2
21.3
1.1
5.4%
ECape
13.9
15.9
2
14.4%
NWest
20.7
27.7
7
33.8%
NCape
16.8
21.1
4.3
25.6%
Limpopo
12.2
15.6
3.4
27.9%
Mpumalanga
12.1
15.8
3.7
30.6%
National
19.9
23.5
3.6
18.1%
Table 3: Mathematics pass over 30% 2009-2010
| 2009 | 2010 | Change | |||||||
| Wrote | Passed | % | Wrote | Passed | % | No. writing | No. passing | % passing | |
| Gauteng | 47,567 | 26,499 | 55.7% | 40,024 | 23,839 | 59.6% | -7,543 | -2,660 | 6.5% |
| WCape | 19,210 | 12,467 | 64.9% | 17,544 | 11,571 | 66.0% | -1,666 | -896 | 1.6% |
| KZN | 74,215 | 33,094 | 44.6% | 65,973 | 31,407 | 47.6% | -8,242 | -1,687 | 6.3% |
| FState | 13,258 | 7,062 | 53.3% | 11,003 | 5,321 | 48.4% | -2,255 | -1,741 | -10.1% |
| ECape | 43,251 | 16,198 | 37.5% | 38,801 | 14,457 | 37.3% | -4,450 | -1,741 | -0.5% |
| NWest | 13,684 | 7,119 | 52.0% | 12,703 | 6,782 | 53.4% | -981 | -337 | 2.6% |
| NCape | 13,258 | 4,593 | 34.6% | 3,627 | 1,896 | 52.3% | -9,631 | -2,697 | 33.7% |
| Limpopo | 50,342 | 19,716 | 39.2% | 49,192 | 19,469 | 39.6% | -1,150 | -247 | 1.0% |
| Mpumalanga | 24,860 | 9,596 | 38.6% | 24,167 | 10,007 | 41.4% | -693 | 411 | 6.8% |
| National | 301,654 | 138,853 | 46.0% | 263,034 | 124,749 | 47.4% | -38,620 | -14,104 | 2.9% |
Table 4: Mathematics passes over 40% 2009-2010
| 2009 | 2010 | Change | ||||||
| Wrote | Passed | % | Wrote | Passed | % | No. passing | % passing | |
| Gauteng | 47,567 | 18,827 | 39.6% | 40,024 | 17,465 | 43.6% | -1,362 | 9.3% |
| WCape | 19,210 | 9,369 | 48.8% | 17,544 | 8,879 | 50.6% | -490 | 3.6% |
| KZN | 74,215 | 20,249 | 27.3% | 65,973 | 19,425 | 29.4% | -824 | 7.3% |
| FState | 13,258 | 4,365 | 32.9% | 11,003 | 3,422 | 31.1% | -943 | -5.9% |
| ECape | 43,251 | 9,206 | 21.3% | 38,801 | 8,280 | 21.3% | -926 | 0.3% |
| NWest | 13,684 | 4,616 | 33.7% | 12,703 | 4,458 | 35.1% | -158 | 3.9% |
| NCape | 13,258 | 4,365 | 32.9% | 3,627 | 1,259 | 34.7% | -3,106 | 5.2% |
| Limpopo | 50,342 | 11,804 | 23.4% | 49,192 | 11,757 | 23.9% | -47 | 1.9% |
| Mpumalanga | 24,860 | 5,889 | 23.7% | 24,167 | 6,429 | 26.6% | 540 | 11.0% |
| National | 301,654 | 90,699 | 30.1% | 263,034 | 81,374 | 30.9% | -9,325 | 2.8% |
Data source: Department of Basic Education, Report on the National Senior Certificate Examination Results (see here - 5Mb PDF), January 6 2011
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