BEST OF THE BEST - Class of 2025 hits historic Western Cape pass rate of 88.2%

THE Western Cape recorded its highest-ever matric pass rate, with the Class of 2025 achieving an impressive 88.2%, improving on last year’s 86.6 percent.

Western Cape pupils excelled in the mathematics field, recording a pass rate of 73.7% and also delivered the second-highest physical science pass rate nationally, recording an 80.6%.

Nationally, more than 900 000 pupils wrote the 2025 NSC examinations at about 6 000 centres across the country with 656 000 pupils successfully passing their exams, with 345 000 of them passing with a bachelor’s pass, despite there being a slight decline from 48%to 46%.

One Hout Bay school showed phenomenal improvement, as for the first time since opening their doors in 2013, Silikamva High School produced a 100% pass rate. They continued their steady rise since 2023, when they produced a 93.3% pass rate, followed by a 94.4% in 2024.

Silikamva High School is a Quintile 3 no-fee school and struggled in the past with its results. In 2019, they produced a pass rate of just 40.4%.

Six years later, the turnaround tells a story of consistency, discipline and an unrelenting focus on learning in the face of deep socio-economic challenges.

Principal Siphathisiwe Nkahla-Nkohla described the results as a defining moment for the school and its community. “The results are quite an achievement for us. Our pass rate was around 40% in 2019, but it has been going up, so this is a big one,” she said.

She credits the improvement to a deliberate culture shift. “The secret to our success is making the learners know that education matters. Our teachers are phenomenal and are always here working. Seeing them over the weekends is a norm at our school, so we have been able to adopt a true culture of learning.”

That culture is underpinned by relentless self-assessment. At the start of every year, the school sets its sights on a 100% pass rate. “We look at our data at the end of every term and analyse our results to see where we are going wrong and which subjects aren’t doing so well, so we can come up with strategies to improve,” Nkahla-Nkohla said.

The data shows steady gains. By March and June last year, the Grade 12 cohort was achieving a 100% pass rate in internal assessments. A dip to 98% in September tested nerves, but belief never wavered. “We were still hopeful, but now getting 100% is amazing,” she said.

Beyond the numbers lie the realities of Imizamo Yethu, one of Cape Town’s most socio-economically marginalised communities. According to Census 2011 data, nearly 80% of households reported monthly incomes of R3 200 or less, with fewer than a quarter living in formal housing. Overcrowding, unemployment and vulnerability to fires and service-delivery disruptions are part of daily life.

“These children face a lot,” the principal said. “We have learners from child-headed households, and teenage pregnancy is rife. We’ve managed to bring it down to only about ten learners, but it was a lot before. Some live in a shack with seven or eight other people and don’t even have a desk.”

For many parents, long working hours make it impossible to provide academic support at home. “There are many cases where a single parent leaves very early in the morning and returns late at night. That’s why we offer whatever support we can to keep learners busy at school as much as possible,” she said. “Our teachers are mothers and fathers here. The school is a safe space.”

The Class of 2025 results reflect not just access, but quality. The cohort achieved a bachelor’s pass rate of 76%, earned 75 subject distinctions, and recorded a 100% pass rate in eight subjects, including Physical Science. These outcomes place Silikamva well above the average for Quintile 3 schools in the province, where the overall matric pass rate was 84.3% and the bachelor’s pass rate 38.9% in 2025.

For head prefect Emilhe Jullies, the results mark both an ending and a beginning. “I’m very excited and proud of my classmates. This hall used to seem so big during the exams because of all the desks and the pressure,” she said. “We had a lot of stress, but we pulled through. Our teachers encouraged us to remember why we were at school, and here we are today with a 100% pass rate.”

Jullies had not yet checked her individual marks, choosing instead to wait for her official statement. Her focus is firmly on what comes next. “I really want to get out of Imizamo Yethu because there are a lot of things happening here. I’m praying that universities and NSFAS fund me so I can stay in residence. I want to go to school.”

She has applied for nursing and civil engineering, driven by both demand and determination. “I’m a hard worker and would love to make money for my family,” she said.

Western Cape Minister of Education David Maynier hailed the achievement as proof that sustained improvement is possible. He said the school’s focus on discipline, motivation, continuous improvement and community partnerships had paid off. “For the first time since the school was founded, the matric Class of 2025 achieved a pass rate of 100%. This is a massive achievement for a no-fee school serving a disadvantaged community,” he said.

Province-wide, the Western Cape recorded strong district performances, with two districts exceeding 90% pass rates and all districts scoring above 80%. Improvements were also seen across no-fee school quintiles, with Quintile 1, 2 and 3 bachelor’s pass rates now exceeding that of Quintile 4 — a sign that historically under-resourced schools are closing the quality gap.

At Silikamva, the statistics feel personal. The school’s name means “we are the future”, and for the Class of 2025, that future feels suddenly within reach. From a 40% pass rate to 100%, their story is not just about exams passed, but about possibility reclaimed in a community too often defined by its struggles.