Cape Town - A total of 75 647 candidates will write the National Senior Certificate (NSC) exams this year in the Western Cape as the class of 2024 take on their final hurdle.
Education Minister David Maynier said that of those writing the NSC exams, 64 375 are full-time candidates, and 11 272 are part-time candidates.
“We have 270 more full-time candidates writing this year compared to the November matric exams in 2023.”
The exams begin on Monday, 21 October 2024, with 66 988 candidates writing English Home Language, First Additional Language, or Second Additional Language in the morning sitting.
In total, 123 examination papers will be written before the exams end on Wednesday, 27 November 2024.
Maynier said that as is the case every year, the subject with the most candidates writing is Mathematical Literacy, with 51 932 candidates writing Paper 1 on Friday, 1 November 2024, and Paper 2 on Monday, 4 November 2024.
In contrast, 5 subjects have a single candidate writing: Zulu Home Language, Sepedi Home Language, Sepedi First Additional Language, Setswana First Additional Language, and Hebrew Second Additional Language.
The exams will be written at 474 exam centres, overseen by 1 809 invigilators who will keep an eye out for any procedural irregularities.
Marking will take place between 2 and 12 December 2024, with 920 000 examination scripts being marked by 4 232 markers and checked by 1 046 mark-checkers.
The national results announcement will take place on 15 January 2025, with individual candidate’s results available at schools or online the following day.
“The scale of the matric exams poses a mammoth administrative challenge, and we appreciate the tremendous efforts of the Western Cape Education Department’s (WCED) officials and school staff in ensuring that the exams run smoothly and fairly.
“Our matrics, and their teachers, have put so much work into preparing for these exams, so we appeal to everyone in the Western Cape to make our matrics the VIPs of our province in these coming weeks,” Maynier said.
“Let us all play our part by supporting our matrics during what is understandably a stressful period, so that they can do the very best they can.”