The 2023 May/June National Senior Certificate (NSC) and Senior Certificate (SC) examinations began this week, on Wednesday, 3 May 2023.
Thousands of learners around the country are expected to participate in the examinations. The seven-week examination period begins in the first week of May 2023 and will conclude on Wednesday, 14 June 2023.
Candidates will write language examinations on the first day of the examination season, and will conclude with agricultural and nautical science examinations in June 2023.
A wealth of information and study material has been made available by the Department of Basic Education (DBE) to help candidates prepare for the upcoming examinations. These resources include past papers as well as audio and video recordings of lessons in several subjects.
Only National Senior Certificate (NSC) candidates qualify for both the May/June and October/November exams. However, Senior Certificate students only qualify to write the May/June exams.
The Second Chance Matric Programme was launched in 2016 to provide those who did not pass their matric with an opportunity to do better a second time. The initiative helps anyone of any age who wants to improve a matric qualification.
Candidates study on a part-time basis and will not be required to pay any fees to take part in the programme. Learners are supported through various platforms, such as face-to-face lessons, online learning materials, and hard-copy learning materials.
Those participating in these exam rewrites can either be learners from last year's group of Grade 12's, from previous years looking to upgrade their results, or can be someone who has never written their matric exams, says DBE Spokesperson, Elijah Mhlanga.
To write the exams, candidates must have registered for the Rewrites; once registered, a timetable with the candidate's name exams dates, venues, times and subjects will be distributed.
Learners who successfully complete the 2023 May/June examinations will obtain either a NSC or a SC. These certificates are equivalent to each other. However there are different matric pass levels.
The level of pass achieved by a learner will often determine the next step of their education journey.
There are four different matric pass levels:
- Bachelor's Degree Pass.
- Diploma Pass.
- Higher Certificate Pass.
- Senior Certificate Pass.
If candidates don't do well in these May/June exams, another chance will be awarded in October/November, for final end-of-year exams.
