An Amended Senior Certificate (SC) is equivalent to a National Senior Certificate (NSC) and is available to people who have been out of school for more than 5 years and would like to improve their final matric results.
The SC document looks the exact same as the NSC.
The only difference between the NSC and the SC is that for the NSC you will have completed matric through school assessments and exams, but for the SC you are only required to successfully complete the matric exams.
Since you will not be doing school based assessments for the Amended Senior Certificate, the examinations that you write will count for 100% of the final mark of that subject.
So how do you pass an Amended Senior Certificate?
An SC can be achieved if the candidate meets the following requirements in the examinations:
- Pass three subjects at 40%, one of which must be an official language at Home Language level.
- Pass two subjects at 30%, one of which must be an official language at First Additional or Home Language level.
- Obtain a subminimum of 20% in the sixth subject.
Examinations for the SC will be done at designated examinations determined by the Provincial Education Department.
Those who intend on writing the SC examinations are advised to begin their preparations for the exams immediately after registering to sit for the exams. This is because it covers the whole matric year's curriculum.
Candidates can find the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) for the relevant subjects from the Department of Basic Education's website or the nearest provincial education office. The Department also makes an examination guideline available, this document provides the framework on the structure and format of the examination.
The Amended Senior Certificate can be used to apply to universities and colleges should candidates want to further their studies at a higher education institution.
