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South Africa’s first-ever midyear matric exams kick off
A watershed moment in South Africa’s education history.
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Thursday, 2 May, is a historical day for the South African education system. For the first time ever, Grade 12 pupils across the country sat for their midyear matric exams.
As reported by Times Live, more than 350 000 pupils were expected to sit for the first-ever midyear examinations, a record count for any examination period that’s ever taken place in South Africa’s school curriculum.
What are the midyear matric exams all about?
The education department spokesperson, Elijah Mhlanga, noted that the surge in attendance was garnered by the change in the matric examination system.
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The department, according to Mhlanga, has merged the supplementary examinations that usually occur between February-March with the senior certificate examinations that take place in June.
“For this reason, the number of candidates who will sit for the 2019 mid-year examination has increased significantly, and will see well over 350,000 registered candidates write the annual examination, as compared to numbers that were lower than 200,000 in the past, for both exams,” he explained.
Another factor contributing to this record participation count is the fact that the midyear exams will also include candidates who could not write 2018’s final exams due to illness or deaths within their immediate families. It also includes candidates who applied for a rewrite.
A breakdown of candidates sitting for midyear exams
This is a breakdown of the registered number of full-time candidates participating in the midyear exams per province:
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| Province | Total entered |
| Eastern Cape | 22 002 |
| Free State | 5 242 |
| Gauteng | 21 330 |
| KwaZulu-Natal | 42 453 |
| Limpopo | 31 749 |
| Mpumalanga | 16 427 |
| Northern Cape | 4 609 |
| North West | 10 046 |
| Western Cape | 12 595 |
| National | 166 453 |
This is the total number of registered part-time candidates per province:
| Province | Total entered |
| Eastern Cape | 21 845 |
| Free State | 11 126 |
| Gauteng | 43 754 |
| KwaZulu-Natal | 26 219 |
| Limpopo | 31 504 |
| Mpumalanga | 15 825 |
| Northern Cape | 6 416 |
| North West | 15 062 |
| Western Cape | 19 398 |
| National | 191 149 |
When will the midyear exam results come out?
Matrics participating in South Africa’s first midyear matric exams are not disillusioned by the weight this carries in determining their year-end results.
Mhlanga revealed that these carry the same importance as their final examinations that often take place in November.
Once the exams have been concluded on 14 June, the rigorous task of quality assurance marking will commence from 24 June until 3 July.
Results are expected to be published on 2 August.
