The final matric exams for the 2023 school year officially came to an end on 6 December. This examination period commenced on 30 October 2023.
The Department of Basic Education (DBE) then announced:
Marking will take place from 7 December 2023 to 20 December 2023.
Marking will take place at 190 marking centres across the country. Markers will have to adhere to a specific criteria to ensure that the evaluation of matric exam papers and scripts are secure.
Mark capturing will conclude on 23 December with standardisation taking place 5 January and Umalusi will then approve the results by 12 January.
When will matric results be released?
The matric results are scheduled to be announced on 18 January 2024 by the Minister of Basic Education and would then be released to the public the following day on 19 January.
A member of Parliament recently expressed concerns about the release of the matric results being delayed, the matric results for the 2022 academic year being delayed. On this, the Department said:
It needs to be noted that the release date for the 2022 NSC examination results was not delayed but this was the planned date for the release of the 2022 NSC examination results. The DBE had a meeting with Universities South Africa (USAf) regarding the release date and there was agreement on the later release date.
In further explaining it, the Department said, "The later release date is directly linked to the late commencement of the writing of the examination". In efforts to make up for lost time due to Covid-19, the department had to extend the time available for teaching and learning, to make sure that the curriculum was covered adequately.
Matric results are made available to Higher Education institutions before the matric results are officially released publically, so that Higher Education Institutions can proceed with its selection processes.
"The DBE as done in previous years will ensure strict adherence to its scheduled time frames and there will be no delays that will contribute to the challenges of Higher Education Institutions."
