The Class of 2017, parents and educators are holding their breath ahead of the announcement of the outcomes of the National Senior Certificate (NSC) exams on 4 January.
Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga will make the announcement during a broadcast on SABC on Thursday evening.
Candidates' individual results will be made available on 5 January 2018 at the school or centre where they wrote their exams. Their partial results will be made available on the department’s website.
Umalusi, the Council for Quality Assurance in General and Further Education and Training, has announced that the 2017 National Senior Certificate examinations were largely incident-free with a few minor disruptions experienced in some parts of the country.
“This attests to the success of the rigid measures put in place by DBE to ensure fool-proof and incident-free examinations. Umalusi commends the Department of Basic Education and Provincial Departments of Education for working tirelessly to achieve this goal,” said Umalusi.
The body conducts not only the process of standardisation, which is required for national examinations, but it also, through rigorous procedures, assures the quality and integrity of the entire examination process.
“Having studied all the evidence presented and having noted that there were no systemic irregularities reported that might have compromised the credibility and integrity of the November 2017 NSC examinations administered by the Department of Basic Education, the Executive Committee of Council approves the release of the DBE results for the November 2017 NSC examinations,” said Umalusi last week.
The approval came with the provision that the results of candidates implicated in examination irregularities be blocked and be investigated and that the department report the outcome of the investigations to Umalusi.
The Executive Committee of Council commended the department for conducting a successful and credible examination.
Curriculum Assessment Policy Statements
The Class of 2017 was the fourth Grade 12 cohort to write final examinations under the Curriculum Assessment Policy Statements (CAPS).
According to Umalusi, the learner performance of the cohort of 2017 has moved closer to the average historical performance profile.
“It is pleasing to see that there is a steady upward trend in the marks of subjects such as Mathematics, Mathematical Literacy, Physical Science and Life Science.
“However, some of the subjects that do not fall under the category of gateway subjects such as Visual Arts, Dramatic Arts and Agricultural Science need to be given more attention and be afforded the status that they deserve in terms of providing them with the necessary resources, for example, Learning and Teaching Support Material,” said the body.
There were 104 001(16%) progressed learners in the Class of 2017. This is slightly down from the 108 742 of 2016.
Umalusi said it has taken note of the evidence-based reports on interventions and improvement strategies implemented by both national and provincial education authorities for learners in general and for progressed learners in particular and the positive impact of these on the overall assessment system as well as on teaching and learning.
While the class of 2017 is the 10th cohort of learners to sit for the NSC, it is only the 4th cohort to write the CAPS aligned NSC examination.
Umalusi said there was a marked improvement in the overall quality of question papers across the assessment bodies as more papers are approved after first or second submission to external moderators.
Supplementary exams
Queries related to matric results should be submitted for investigation within 30 days after the release of results.
Candidates must ensure that names and identity numbers reflect correctly on their statement of results and report any required corrections to the Department before 30 June 2018.
A supplementary examination may be granted to an unsuccessful National Senior Certificate candidate, provided they meet specific criteria. The closing date for applications to the supplementary examination is 19 January 2018. – SAnews.gov.za
