DOCUMENTS

Matric 2023: The WCape's top students and top schools – David Maynier

Minister says Melissa Müller from Rhenish Girls’ High School the top student in country

Western Cape 2023 National Senior Certificate Awards

31 January 2024

Good morning Premier and Tracy Winde,

All of our honored guests,

Our school staff and officials,

Our parents,

And most importantly, the top achievers of the Western Cape matric class of 2023!

It is wonderful to be here again in the beautiful gardens of Leeuwenhof to celebrate our matric class.

It is such a special occasion for our top achievers and their parents, and I am pleased that we are able to showcase our artists and musicians this year.

Celebration of the 2023 matric results

The past year was a tough one for our candidates and schools. After years of disrupted learning due to the Covid-19 pandemic, in 2023 we faced minibus taxi blockades and strikes, two major floods, and severe load shedding.

Yet despite this, the Western Cape Class of 2023 increased the matric pass rate for the third year running, to 81.54%.

Every single one our 50 520 candidates who passed met the requirements to access higher education, with 26 182 candidates (or 42.2%) qualifying with a bachelors pass to attend university, our highest number of bachelors passes ever!

Our Western Cape candidates achieved the top Mathematics pass rate at 75.4%, and the top Physical Sciences pass rate at 82.2%. These are critical subjects for the national and provincial economy, so we are pleased to see improvements in both compared to 2022.

We also have the second highest distinctions rate, with 24 982 subject distinctions being awarded to candidates in the Western Cape!

What is equally impressive is that we increased our retention rate, or the percentage of the Grade 10 class from two years’ ago who wrote their matric exams this year, has increased to 69.3%.

Getting both the pass rate and the retention rate to move in a positive direction is a difficult task, and our school staff, and particularly our principals, are making the choice to give more learners a shot at passing their matric exams, instead of holding them back to improve their school pass rate.

Yes, we could drop our retention rate to climb the results league table, but that would result in fewer learners writing and passing their exams, and a greater risk of them dropping out entirely.

So let me be clear: the Western Cape is simply not willing to sacrifice retention to hike up our pass rate relative to other provinces.

We are also delighted that the top candidate in the country once again hails from the Western Cape.

Melissa Müller from Rhenish Girls’ High School not only ranked as the top public school candidate in the country, she is also the top Quintile 5 candidate, and the top Mathematics candidate, in the country. This is an outstanding achievement.

Here’s an interesting fact for you: the top candidate in the country has come from the Western Cape in 6 of the past 7 matric exams, and the top candidate in Mathematics has been from the Western Cape for 5 matric exams in a row!

5 other Western Cape learners were also recognised at the national results function in Gauteng:

Ethan Myers from Herzlia High School is the top independent school candidate;

Jared Benn from Wynberg Boys’ High School ranked second in quintile 5, and is the top candidate in Physical Sciences;

Samkelo Gumada from Athlone School for the Blind is the top special needs candidate;

-  Victor Mapolisa, also from Athlone School for the Blind, ranked third in special needs education candidates; and

Amahle Jemane from De La Bat School ranked second in South African Sign Language.

I congratulate each one of you on this astounding achievement, and for representing us so wonderfully at the national awards earlier this month.

New direction in education

We are especially pleased that our learners with special needs are being recognised for their incredible achievement, as improving access to quality education for learners with special needs is a key priority for our government, and is part of the new direction in education that we have set out in the past year.

Many of you already know that our vision for quality education for every learner, in every classroom, in every school in the Western Cape.

We aim to achieve this by expanding access to education including for learners with special needs, reversing learning losses, improving Early Learning, developing partnerships with the private sector, and working with the World Bank to set long term priorities for our province’s education system.

There are huge challenges we need to face in doing so, not least the massive budget constraints we are currently facing.

But I can promise you this:

The Western Cape Government will not stop fighting to get the budget we need in order to deliver on our vision of quality education.

Recognition of our key role-players

Thank you to our principals and teachers, who have worked incredibly hard to make sure our matrics had the best possible chance of success in their final exams.

It has been a tough few years for our school staff, with the Covid-19 pandemic disrupting schooling, and then the return to full time attendance leaving us with the lasting impact of learning losses.

You are our greatest asset, and we appreciate the dedication, care and love that you show every day for the learners of the Western Cape.

We must also thank our exams officials, led by Bertram Loriston, who oversee the entire exam process. To give you a sense of the scale of the operation required to conduct the 2023 matric exams in our province:

A total of 123 exam papers were written at 469 exam centres, overseen by 1 878 invigilators.

Our 4 158 markers at 11 marking centres needed to mark 928 000 exam scripts, which were then verified by 1 046 mark checkers.

And all of this had to take place before 21 December 2023.

It is a mammoth administrative task, which our examinations team, headed up by Bertram Loriston, accomplishes with great skill and efficiency. We thank them for their exceptional work this year, and every single year, that allows the exams to run without incident in our province.

You may not yet know that Haroon is going to be retiring in April, so this is his last set of matric results as DDG. Haroon, I wish you all the best as you take a well-deserved break when you retire, and thank you for your many years of service to our children.

Our district directors, who are here with us today, do an outstanding job under impossible circumstances. Thank you for the sacrifices you make daily to keep the ship on a steady course, and for always keeping the best interest of our learners as your guiding star.

Thank you to our subject adviserscircuit managersdistrict and curriculum staff who have done everything they can to support our schools.

I thank our matric parents, who have supported our learners through thick and thin.

I think there is a particular kind of anxiety that comes from being the parent of a matric learner, and it is one that I am glad I still have quite a long time to prepare for. I know that you have shared the hopes and fears of your children as they wrote their exams, so this is your achievement too.

Message to the Class of 2023

And finally, to the matric Class of 2023:

We are so proud of you, of your commitment, of your hard work, and of the investment you have made in your own future.

Keep hold of your drive and determination: it will serve you well in the years ahead.

Whenever I speak with our top achievers, and indeed with any of our matriculants, I can’t help but feel optimistic about the future that our matriculants will help us build.

You are an exceptionally talented group of young people.

So when we look for our future engineers,

For our future doctors,

For our future scientists,

For our future artists,

For our future musicians,

For our future teachers,

And even our future Premiers,

We will not have to look outside our province.

We will find them right here, in the Class of 2023 and our top achievers in the Western Cape.

*** 

NATIONAL SENIOR CERTIFICATE (NSC) AWARDS FOR 2023

AWARDS TO SCHOOLS

In the first category, schools are awarded in terms of Improvement in pass rate, greatest increase in the percentage of candidates achieving access to Bachelor’s degree studies, improvement and excellence in individual subjects and excellence in academic performance.

In the second category, awards are made to all public, independent and Technical Schools that achieve excellence in academic performance.

All schools will receive a certificate.

CATEGORY 1: MOST IMPROVED SCHOOLS

1A.         MOST IMPROVED PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Awards will be made to ten public schools with 30 or more candidates that have shown the greatest improvement in pass rate over the period 2021 to 2023. The criteria also include consistency in the number of Grade 12 candidates over the 3-year period from 2021 to 2023.

10

Indwe Secondary School

9

Khanyolwethu Secondary School

8

Sinethemba Secondary School

7

Desmond Mpilo Tutu Secondary School

6

Nomzamo High School

5

Uxolo High School

4

Forest Heights High School

3

Bulumko Secondary School

2

Haarlem Sekondêre Skool

1

Joe Slovo Secondary School

1B.         MOST IMPROVED TECHNICAL HIGH SCHOOL

Joe Slovo Secondary School

1C.         GREATEST INCREASE IN THE PERCENTAGE OF BACHELOR’S PASSES 

Awards will be made to ten schools with 30 or more candidates that have shown the greatest increase in the percentage of candidates achieving access to Bachelor’s degree studies over the period 2021 to 2023. The criteria also include consistency in number of Grade 12 candidates over the 3-year period from 2021 to 2023.

10

Hoërskool Zandvliet

 

9

Bulumko Secondary School

 

8

Joe Slovo Secondary School

 

7

Uxolo High School

 

6

Buren High School

 

5

Bloekombos Secondary School

 

4

Emil Weder Sekondêre Skool

 

3

Hoërskool Diazville

 

2

Zonnebloem Nest Senior School

 

1

De Rust Futura Akademie

 

1D.         GREATEST INCREASE IN THE PASS RATE FROM 2022 TO 2023

Awards will be made to five ordinary public schools with 80 or more candidates that have shown the greatest increase in the pass rate when the 2023 pass rate is compared with the 2022 pass rate.

5

Sinethemba Secondary School

4

Umyezo Wama Apile High School

3

Scottsdene Sekondêre Skool

2

Intlanganiso Secondary School

1

Oscar Mpetha High School

1E.         MOST IMPROVED PASS PERFORMANCE

Awards will be made to five ordinary public schools with 80 or more candidates that have shown the greatest increase in the pass rate when the 2023 pass rate is compared with the 2022 pass rate, as well as an increase in the number of candidates from 2022 to 2023.

5

Joe Slovo Secondary School

4

Jonga Street Secondary School

3

Bloekombos Secondary School

2

Thembelihle High School

1

Fairdale High School

1F.          GREATEST PERCENTAGE INCREASE IN THE TOTAL NUMBER OF SUBJECT DISTINCTIONS

Awards will be made to five ordinary public schools that have shown the greatest increase in the percentage of candidates achieving subject distinctions from 2022 to 2023.

5

Protea Heights Academy

5

Buren High School

4

Simon's Town School

3

Parel Vallei High School

2

Claremont High School

1

Hoërskool Lutzville

CATEGORY 2 - EXCELLENCE IN ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN INDIVIDUAL SUBJECTS

Improvement

For Mathematics, this is awarded to one school in the province that obtained the highest score when combining the following:  change in percentage of candidates in the cohort taking the subject, the change in the pass rate for the subject, the change in the subject average and the change in the number of candidates taking the subject. Minimum enrolment of 30 candidates is required. The weighting is the same for all the criteria.

The same criteria are applied for improvement in Mathematics and Physical Sciences:

Improvement in Mathematics

Murray High School

Improvement in Physical Sciences

Bloekombos Secondary School

For Home languages, this is awarded to one school in the province that showed the greatest improvement in the average for English Home Language, Afrikaans Home Language and Xhosa Home Language in 2023, compared to their subject average in 2022. Minimum enrolment of 30 candidates is required.

Improvement in English HL

Blackheath Secondary School

Improvement in Afrikaans HL

Hoërskool Diazville

Improvement in Xhosa HL

Silikamva Secondary School

Excellence

This is awarded to the school in the province that obtained the highest score when combining the following:  percentage of candidates in the cohort taking the subject, the pass rate for the subject, the subject average, and the number of candidates taking the subject.

Excellence in Mathematics

Diocesan College AND
Herschel Girls School

Excellence in Physical Sciences

Diocesan College

Excellence in Home languages this is awarded to one school in the province that produced the highest pass rate in English Home Language, Afrikaans Home Language and Xhosa Home Language in 2023 and had the highest average in English Home Language, Afrikaans Home Language and Xhosa Home Language in 2023.

Excellence in English HL

Springfield Convent of the Holy Rosary

Excellence in Afrikaans HL

Hoër Meisieskool Bloemhof

Excellence in Xhosa HL

Centre of Science and Technology

CATEGORY 3 - EXCELLENCE IN ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

In this category, awards are presented to the top three Technical Schools as well as to schools promoting technical subjects. The top three schools in the province with an NSC enrolment of less than 80 candidates and the top 20 schools with 80 or more candidates that have achieved excellence in academic results in 2023, will also be awarded.

3A.   The top three Technical High Schools are:

3

Labori Hoërskool

2

Drostdy Hoër Tegniese Skool

1

Langenhoven Gimnasium

3B.    Schools PROMOTING technical subjects

Hoërskool Bellville

3C.    Consistent pass rates of 95% and more over five years

Awards will be made to ordinary public schools with a consistent pass rate of 95% or more over the past five years (2019-2023). Contextual factors of schools will be taken into consideration when the awards are made. List is alphabetical.

Hoërskool Bellville

Hoër Meisieskool Bloemhof

Hoër Landbouskool Boland

La Rochelle Girls’ High School

Hoërskool Lutzville

Mondale High School

Paarl Girls High School

S.A. College High School

South Peninsula High School

Spine Road High School

Tafelbergskool

Westerford High School

3D.   The top four schools with an NSC enrolment of less than 80 candidates are:

4

Hoër Landbouskool Oakdale

3

Herzlia High School

2

Montgomery and Miller Academy

1

Cannons Creek School

 

3E.  The top 20 schools in the province with an NSC enrolment of 80 or more candidates (including independent schools) that have achieved excellence in academic results in 2023 are:

20

Spine Road High School

19

Pinelands High School

18

Fairmont High School

17

Hoërskool D F Malan

16

Hoërskool Gimnasium Paarl

15

Wynberg Girls' High School

14

La Rochelle Girls’ High School

13

Parklands College

12

Parel Vallei High School

11

Paul Roos Gimnasium

10

S.A. College High School

9

Paarl Girls High School

8

Rondebosch Boys' High School

7

Springfield Convent of the Holy Rosary

6

Rhenish Girls' High School

5

Hoër Meisieskool Bloemhof

4

Westerford High School

3

Rustenburg Girls' High School

2

Herschel Girls School

1

Diocesan College

AWARDS TO CANDIDATES

Awards to candidates will be presented for the best performance in specified subjects, outstanding performance in the Special Needs category, Special Ministerial awards, and awards to the top 40 candidates in the province.

CATEGORY 1: Candidate Subject Awards

In this category, one award will be made to the candidate/s with the highest mark in the subject, where the highest mark is determined up to 2 decimal points. Each candidate will receive R 6 000 and a certificate.

There were 16 candidates in the Western Cape who obtained full marks for a subject.

Subject

School

Names

Surname

Afrikaans Home Language

Hoërskool Parelvallei

Daniel Gerhard

Cilliers

English Home Language

Rustenburg Girls’ High School

Caitlin Elizabeth

Jackson

isiXhosa Home Language

Thembalethu Secondary School

Sisipho

Sikoti

SA Sign Language Home Language

De La Bat-Skool

Amahle

Jemane

Computer Applications Technology

La Rochelle Girls’ High School

Iris

Saunders

Information Technology

Centre of Science and Tehnology

Ntsika Oyama

Madondile

Technical Mathematics

Joe Slovo Secondary School

Uviwe

Mqulwane

Engineering Graphics and Design

Hoërskool Montana

Ulrich

Lourens

Electrical Technology (Power Systems

Hoërskool Labori

Migael Andreas

Scheepers

Accounting

Rustenburg Girls’ High School

Stella Erin

Lazarus

Business Studies

Intlanganiso Secondary School

Luzuko

Marwanqana

Business Studies

New Eisleben Secondary School

Sesethu

Mtshotana

Business Studies

Makapula Secondary School

Sinathi

Zakhele

Business Studies

Norman Henshilwood High School

Jessica Kaylene

van Rensburg

Business Studies

Hoërskool Tygerberg

Jana Adri

van der Watt

Design

Parel Vallei High School

Joshua

Simone

History

Springfield Convent of the Holy Rosary

Catherine Campbell

Wichary

Geography

Rustenburg Girls’ High School

Caitlin Christine

Anstey

Tourism

Worcester Gimnasium

Wilme

van Dijk

Physical Sciences

Wynberg Boys’ High School

Jared Ryan

Benn

Life Sciences

Rhenish Girls’ High School

Melissa

Muller

Agricultural Technology

Shalom Akademie

Jan Daniel

Roux

Mathematics

Sizimisele Secondary School

Lutsha

Mshede

Mathematics

Siphamandla Secondary School

Lisema

Anta

Mathematics

Milnerton High School

Aidan

Conradie

Mathematics

Milnerton High School

Jarrod

Mcevoy

Mathematics

Rhenish Girls’ High School

Melissa

Muller

CATEGORY 2: Excellence despite barriers to learning

In this category, candidates will receive R10 000 and a certificate.

The award goes to:

Centre Name

Names

Surname

Athlone School for the Blind

Samkelo

Gumada

Athlone School for the Blind

Nizibone Victor

Mapolisa

Jan Kriel-Skool

Jarryd Luke

Jansen

CATEGORY 3: SPECIAL MINISTERIAL AWARD

The Special Ministerial Award for 2023 is awarded to:

Centre Name

Names

Surname

Eden Technical High School

Sanele

Koeberg

Norman Henshilwood High

Sashen

Chase

CATEGORY 4: Excellent achievement across the province (including Independent Schools)

This is awarded to the top 40 candidates according to the marks obtained in their best six subjects that fulfil the requirements for the award of a National Senior Certificate (two Languages, Mathematics and three other subjects excluding Life Orientation). The historical context of schools is also taken into consideration.

NOTE: The awards are presented in alphabetical order, except for the top 5 positions.

Centre Name

Names

Surname

Siphamandla Secondary School

Sakhumzi

Balangile

Wynberg Boys' High School

Ignatius Johannes

Beets

Hoër Jongenskool Paarl

Willem Adriaan

de Villiers

Herzlia High School

Ashlee Drew

Deats

Rylands High School

Abdud Daiyaan

Delong

Protea Heights Academy

Isuamfon

Ekpott

Protea Heights Academy

Janevah

Gordon

Diocesan College

Kaspar

Holm

Rustenburg Girls' High School

Caitlin Elizabeth

Jackson

Cannons Creek School

Thomas Ross

Kabalin

Protea Heights Academy

Arabelle Caroline

Langenhoven

Rustenburg Girls' High School

Stella Erin

Lazarus

Herschel Girls School

Emma Anne

Lewis

Centre Of Science and Technology

Ntsika Oyama

Madondile

Kwamfundo Secondary School

Sibahle

Madubela

Iqhayiya Secondary School

Uthimna

Menzi

Manzomthombo Secondary School

Inga

Mhlauli

Rondebosch Boys' High School

Naadir

Mowzer

Sizimisele Secondary School

Lutsha

Mshede

Isilimela Secondary School

Onke

Mtyotywa

Sinenjongo High School

Makanaka Angeline

Muzuva

Dr. Nelson R. Mandela High School

Sinemihlali

Ntantiso

Claremont High School

Zubayr

Parak

Thandokhulu Secondary School

Lilita Nozuko

Poswa

Parklands College

Heidi

Rossouw

Paarl Girls High School

Annemay

Schade

Protea Heights Academy

Gemma Rosalind

Segers

Sophumelela Secondary School

Lucky Alberto

Sitole

Intsebenziswano Secondary School

Lukho

Soga

Melkbosstrand High School

Cara

Strauss

S.A. College High School

David

Te Roller

Hoër Meisieskool Bloemhof

Mila Sophia

Van Wyk

Paarl Girls’ High School

Milcah

Visser

Belhar High School

Tauniscia Rexane

Witbooi

The top positions are as follows:

Rank

CentreName

Names

Surname

4

Rustenburg Girls’ High School

Caitlin Christine

Anstey

4

Rhenish Girls’ High School

Lilly

Hobbs

3

Star College Bridgetown

Faraaz Ahmed

Parker

The top candidate from an independent school in the Western Cape, and in joint second position provincially:

2

Herzlia High School

Ethan

Myers

In joint second position, from a public ordinary school:

2

Wynberg Boys’ High

Jared Ryan

Benn

Top candidate in the Western Cape:

1

Rhenish Girls’ High School

Melissa

Muller

Issued by Kerry Mauchline, Spokesperson to Minister David Maynier, 31 January 2024