A total of 76 903 candidates will write the National Senior Certificate (NSC) exams in the province this year.
Of these, 64 105 are full-time candidates, and 12 798 are part-time candidates. The practical exams started with Computer Applications Technology (11 731 candidates) on Tuesday 24 October and Information Technology (1 000 candidates) on last Wednesday.
The written exams began yesterday, Monday 30 October, with a total of 66 831 candidates writing English Home Language, First Additional Language, or Second Additional Language in the morning sitting.
One hundred and twenty-three exam papers will be written in the exam period, which ends on 5 December with Agricultural Technology.
The subject with the most candidates writing is Mathematical Literacy, with 51 575 candidates writing Paper 1 on Friday 3 November and Paper 2 on Monday 6 November.
In contrast, there are four subjects each with just one candidate writing in the Western Cape: IsiZulu Home Language, IsiZulu First Additional Language, Portuguese First Additional Language and Telegu Second Additional Language. Thirteen candidates will complete the South African Sign Language Home Language exam.
The exams will be written at 469 exam centres, overseen by 1 878 invigilators, who will keep a close eye on proceedings and any potential irregularities. Marking will get underway after the final written exam, and 928 000 exam scripts will be marked by 4 158 markers and checked by 1 046 mark-checkers.
The national-results announcement will take place on 18 January 2024, and these will be available to learners at schools and online on Friday 19 January 2024.
It is clearly a mammoth administrative task and the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) appreciates the tremendous effort officials and schools have made in preparing for the exams.
Contingencies for load shedding and disruptions
“It is also clear we simply cannot afford any disruptions,” the WCED stated. “While our department prepares contingency plans each year disruptions in the form of strikes and protests have a detrimental effect on our candidates. Matric is a stressful-enough time without our learners having to worry about getting to their exams safely.
“We appeal to everyone in the Western Cape to treat our matrics as the VIPs of our province for the next few weeks. We do not want to see their futures compromised by the selfish actions of a few.
“We are also mindful of the impact of the ongoing load shedding, and assure our matrics we have the necessary protocols in place for exams to continue in case of both scheduled and unscheduled power outages.”
The WCED urges matrics to make sure to keep their heads down and work right up until their last exam!
