Western Cape's Class of 2025 achieves record-breaking 88.2% matric pass rate

The matric class of 2025 has reason to celebrate as the provincial matric pass increased to 88.2 % which is the highest pass rate for the Western Cape since the National Senior Certificate was introduced.

The National Senior Certificate results were released on Monday, January 12, by National Minister of Basic Education Siviwe Gwarube.

The Western Cape finished in fifth with its 88.2% pass, which is an improvement from the 86.6% last year.  The top three performing provinces are KwaZulu-Natal with 90.6%, Free State with 89.33%, and Gauteng with 80.06%.

Schools in the Southern Suburbs impressed with Cannons Creek achieving a 100% pass rate, which is a record they have maintained since offering matric in 2003.

Principal  Angus Morton said: “We are delighted with the outstanding results achieved by the class of 2025, and they are to be commended on their commitment and level of application in their final year.

Their top performing pupils are Ciaran Steenveld with eight distinctions, while five other pupils achieved seven distinctions.

Other schools that retained their 100% pass rate include Bishops Diocesan College, South African College High School, Seven Steps Academy for the Deaf, St George’s Grammar School, Star College, Westerford High School, and Michael Oak Waldorf School. 

Pinelands High School achieved 98.5%, Rondebosch Boys High School 99.4%, and Rustenburg Girls’ High School 99.4%.

There were solid performances from Sans Souci Girls’ High School, which achieved 95.7%, St Joseph’s College with 96%, Windsor High School with 94.3% and Trafalgar Secondary School with 94%. 

Windsor High School principal Dianne Morgan said they are proud of the class of 2025.

“This group of excellent students has worked extremely hard, as it shows in their improvement in the number of Bachelor passes and in the increase in the pass rate for Windsor High School,” she said.

There were some solid improvements from Queens Park High that achieved a 95.2% pass compared to 79.2% last year, and Salt River High School improved to an 88.8% compared to 80.2% last year. Queens Park High principal Nicolene Abrahams said this is "an awesome set of results for the class of 2025."

“All their hard work definitely paid off. To improve from 79.2% to 95.2% is something to be proud of,” she said.

Western Cape education MEC, David Maynier said the schools also improved their bachelor’s pass rate to 49.2% compared to 47.8% last year.

“This is also the highest ever for the Western Cape, and the second highest in the country,” he said. 

Mr Maynier said the province has a top mathematics pass rate with 73.7% while in physical science, they have the second-best pass rate with 80.6%.

“Incredibly, the class of 2025 achieved this with the highest retention rate in the country at 70.0%, which is also the top retention rate our province has had since 2021,” he said.