Press release: IEB National Senior Certificate 2021

19 January 2021

[19 Jan 2022]: The 2021 NSC pass rate is 98.39%, slightly higher than last year’s pass rate of 98.06%. All candidates who passed achieved a pass that is good enough to enter tertiary study at one of the three levels:

- 89.2% of the cohort achieved entry to degree study, compared to 88.41% in 2020.

- 7.82% qualified for entry to diploma study, compared to 8.14% in 2020.

- 1.37% achieved entry for study at the Higher Certificate level, compared to 1.5% in 2020.

12 857 full-time and 968 part-time candidates from 238 examination centres writing in 267 venues across Southern Africa wrote the Independent Examinations Board (IEB) National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations in October and November 2021. This is an increase from 2020 when there were 12 024 full-time candidates and 1139 part-time candidates, and from 2019 when there were 11 818 full-time candidates and 779 part-time candidates.

“Success is like an iceberg – what people see is only on the surface”. Alex Altman’s description is very apt for the Class of 2021.

“As with an iceberg, the achievement we see in the class of 2021 hides the depth of the struggle and effort that underpins this success. These Grade 12 learners were the true victims of COVID-19. The Class of 2021 has had to dig deep mentally and emotionally to find the strength to face the tremendous challenges of the radically changed teaching and learning environment of the last two years. They truly deserve the accolades they receive,” explains Anne Oberholzer, CEO of the Independent Examinations Board (IEB).

To understand the impact of the pandemic on the NSC learners of 2021, one needs to consider what normally happens in many schools over the final two years of Grades 11 and 12. Grade 11 is spent primarily on ensuring that learners have a firm grasp and full understanding of key concepts and content in their respective subjects of study. The first term of Grade 12 is usually spent on completion of the curriculum and for the rest of the year, learners are exposed to applications of the concepts and content.

A significant amount of time is spent on perfection of examination techniques, like judgement of time, or what to do should you come across a question that you don’t know how to answer. Finally, there is substantial revision to provide students with sufficient exposure to a variety of assessment approaches and hence opportunities to prepare for the final examinations.  

“The journey for Grade 12 candidates of 2021 was somewhat different with school closures from as early as March 2020 and then sporadically throughout the year, continuing right through their Grade 12 year. They experienced disruptive change of an unprecedented nature within a relatively short space of time,” explains Oberholzer.

“Teaching in 2020 focussed primarily on ensuring that Grade 12 learners were given as much attention as possible to ensure that they could succeed in their final examinations. Most Grade 11 learners in 2020 spent much less time at school and were essentially the test cases of the greatest online tuition experiment of our time. Despite its varied rate of success, one thing is certain – the use of technology in education is here to stay, as it should be.

“There’s no doubt that online learning cannot replace a good teacher in person, however, it is far better than no teacher, and no guidance. The journey to uncover the true worth of technology in the classroom has begun in earnest and it will be the teachers with initiative, imagination and creativity that will light the way. With the initial fear of unfamiliar technology now behind us, technology will find its rightful place in the education of our children. If there is one good thing to come out of the pandemic, let it be the value that technology can bring to the classroom and particularly those children currently deprived of a quality education. Authorities can no longer ignore the necessity for expanding open access fibre cable networks to provide long-distance, high-performance data networking across the country, particularly in in rural areas,” says Oberholzer.

Learners have built tremendous resilience

The class of 2021 had to find new ways to deal with the challenges they were served, and build the resilience, courage and persistence to overcome them. We cannot underestimate the impact of disappointments of missing out on key social events that happen only in a matric learner’s life, the important social experiences that are fundamental as they grapple with young adulthood, and the frustration of uncertainty that COVID-19 brought to almost every facet of their lives. All these struggles form part of the iceberg that lies out of view. Overcoming these difficulties has been the true achievement of the class of 2021, and this experience can only benefit them on their path of lifelong learning.

“On a far deeper level, for many the difficulties have been overwhelming and far more devastating – learners lost family members, grandparents to COVID-19, parents and breadwinners lost their jobs and income due to a declining economy, and many learners fell victim to the scourge of domestic violence that amplified as lockdown and domestic financial stress grew. The impact of such tragedy on dedication to studies cannot be under-estimated. There were many who were simply overcome by the enormity of the challenges and we must encourage and support these learners to pick up where they left off and continue with their education.  

“Finally, we must acknowledge the tremendous work of our teaching community and school management teams. Society cannot ignore the professionalism and commitment of teachers shown in developing a new way of teaching as demanded by the pandemic, and the tightrope walked by school managers in managing the protocols demanded by the pandemic and the justifiable fears and tensions of staff, learners and parents. Despite the naysayers who were prepared to write off the academic year, the people directly facing the challenge did not flinch. The fact that the examinations for the NSC 2021 took place during the fourth wave is testimony to the strength and capacity of our education community. We commend the candidates, their teachers and parents for a job extraordinarily well done,” concludes Oberholzer.

The closing date for the application for remarking is Friday, 28 January 2022 and the results from re-marking will be released on Tuesday, 15 March 2022. The closing date for learners who qualify to enrol for the May/June examination is 30 March 2022.  

Advanced Programmes 2021

The IEB offers extension courses for interested and talented students in specialist subjects namely, Mathematics, English, Afrikaans and for the first time this year, Physics. The Advanced Programme courses do not form part of the subjects recognised for the NSC. Examinations of the Advanced Programme courses are available to any student who chooses to participate. The assessment has been internationally benchmarked and is considered equivalent to the UK A-levels.  

The 2021 performance in AP Mathematics, consisting of 1324 learners from IEB schools and 852 learners in state schools, has been very pleasing with 76.47% achieving a pass above 40%. From a total of 609 learners offering AP English, 93.6% achieved a pass mark of 40% or above; all learners offering AP Afrikaans achieved a mark of 40% and above.

The first year of assessment of AP Physics was a pilot and the IEB is very pleased to indicate that it has been successfully concluded with 71 participants. 90% of the participants achieved a pass mark of 40% or above.

Combined Abitur-NSC 2021

The Combined Abitur-NSC is a qualification offered by the German Schools in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Pretoria. The qualification consists of five subjects assessed by the IEB and seven subjects assessed by the German Education authorities. Through this government-to-government agreement, successful learners in the Combined Abitur-NSC are recognised by German education authorities for entry to German universities and by the South African education authorities for entry to South African universities. Of the 69 candidates who offered this qualification, 97.1% passed with entry to degree study. The IEB sees its involvement with this qualification as a means of keeping South African students in touch with global standards and developments.

Background for media

The IEB had 12 857 full-time and 968 part-time candidates in Grade 12 in 2021, registered at 238 IEB examination centres across the country, Mozambique, Namibia and Eswatini as follows:

The total number of examination venues was 267 which includes centres that deal only with part-time candidates and centres that host more than one examination venue, namely distance education providers.

The Gauteng numbers include learners registered with three distance-learning institutions which have their head offices in Gauteng. These institutions have both full-time and part-time learners who live in areas across the country. They are registered with the distance-learning institution which manages their lesson delivery as well as the assessment requirements, and in Grade 12 these adhere strictly to the NSC requirements and their site-based assessment as well as oral and practical work are moderated and verified by the IEB.

About the IEB

The IEB is an independent assessment agency, separate from State and Provincial examination boards, operating within the constraints of national legislation and provisions of the national quality assurance body, Umalusi. Umalusi has granted the IEB accreditation for the assessment of the National Senior Certificate and adult examinations at NQF Level 1.

The IEB offers examinations for client schools at the Grade 12 level, in line with national policy, based on the National Curriculum Statements and using various forms of assessment, including final summative examination and continuous assessment – i.e. orals, practicals and portfolios. The School Section acts in accordance with Umalusi prescriptions and the provisions of Higher Education, using professional educationalists who are practising teachers in the various subject disciplines.

These teachers are active members of IEB Subject User Groups which engage with the curriculum and make recommendations on assessment practice based on real school experience. The IEB offers assessments including international benchmarking tests at other levels to participating schools.

Statement issued on behalf of Anne Oberholzer, CEO - Independent Examinations Board (IEB), 19 January 2022