Matric pass rate inches up to 81.3%

It is a 3,9% improvement from 2018.

Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga revealed the much-anticipated results in Midrand on Tuesday evening.

The province with the best results was the Free State with a pass rate of 88.4% - a 0.9% improvement from the previous year.

In second place is Gauteng with 87.2%, followed by the North West 86.8%, Western Cape with 82.3%, KwaZulu-Natal at 81.3%, Mpumalanga with 80.3%, Northern Cape at 76.5%, Eastern Cape at 76.5% and Limpopo with 73.2%.

Motshegka says the biggest improvement was the Eastern Cape with the province up 5%.

"This is the highest pass rate in the last 25 years. Quality cannot be judged by numbers alone. There needs to be a deeper probe into certain quality indicators that will lead to higher quality outputs.”

She says none of the 75 districts achieved a pass rate of below 60%.

"It is extremely encouraging and where provinces have made significant gains, this needs to be further evaluated and good practices shared.“

At total of 616 754 full-time students sat for the National Senior Certificate examination and 8 million question papers were printed out.