Hardworking candidates who wrote their final school exams through the Independent Examinations Board (IEB) have raised the bar by securing a 98.39% pass rate.
The 2021 National Senior Certificate (NSC) pass rate is slightly higher when compared with the 98.05% pass rate achieved in the previous year.
The number of full-time and part-time candidates who wrote in 267 venues across Southern Africa had also increased to 12,857 and 968, respectively.
Of the total number, 596 pupils wrote the NSC exam in the Eastern Cape.
In 2020, there were 12,024 full-time and 1,139 part-time candidates.
The figures for 2019 showed that 11,818 full-time candidates and 779 part-time candidates had written the exam.
All candidates who passed achieved a pass good enough to enter tertiary institutions to study at degree, diploma or higher certificate level.
A total of 89.2% of the cohort achieved entry to study towards a degree, compared with the 88.41% in 2020.
A total 7.82% qualified for entry to diploma study (compared with 8.14% in 2020), while 1.37% achieved entry for study at the higher certificate level (compared with 1.5% in 2020).
IEB chief executive Anne Oberholzer said the class of 2021 were the true victims of the Covid-19 pandemic and the ones that had to dig deep mentally and emotionally to find the strength to face the challenges of a radically changed teaching and learning environment over the last two years.
“They truly deserve the accolades they receive,” Oberholzer said.
Pupils at some of the most elite private schools in the Eastern Cape, such as the Diocesan School for Girls, Kingswood College, St Andrew’s College (all in Makhanda) and Woodridge College and Preparatory School in Thornhill, raked in distinctions.
The class of 2021 at Woodridge attained 117 distinctions across all subjects and a top 1% achievement as per the IEB examination results.
The top achievers, with eight distinctions each, were Arné von Hagen and Rachel Botha.
Von Hagen’s marks for Afrikaans, life sciences, physical sciences, mathematics and applied mathematics placed him in the top 1% of those who wrote the IEB exams in SA.
Von Hagen, Botha and Marichen Meiring made it onto the IEB’s lists of outstanding and commendable achievements.
Diocesan School for Girls dux scholars (top academic pupils in a school) Jemma Boonzaier and Sarah Floquet achieved a full house of distinctions along with Tayla Barrett and Rebecca Millard.
Of all the subject symbols achieved at the school, 35% were distinctions and 36% were B-symbols.
At Kingswood College, dux scholar Anna Timmermans and Colby Cockcroft received a full house of distinctions.
Timmermans ranked in the top 1% for mathematics and engineering graphics and design while Cockcroft ranked in the top 1% for business studies and mathematical literacy.
At St Andrew’s College, dux scholar Dominic Owen received six distinctions for accounting, Afrikaans FAL, geography, life orientation, mathematics and physical science.
The closing date for the application for IEB remarking is Friday, January 28.
The results from remarking will be released on Tuesday, March 15.
The closing date for pupils who qualify to enrol for the May/June examination is March 30.
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