The 2016 National Senior Certificate (NSC) Supplementary Examinations took place from Wednesday, 10 February 2016 until on Thursday, 17 March 2016. The supplementary examinations proceeded extremely well with very few reported irregularities.
A total of 115 966 full time and 816 part time candidates enrolled to write the supplementary examinations.
The Supplementary Examination is a fully fledged National Senior Certificate examination administered to candidates who were unable to write the November examination due to ill health, or being short of two subjects to meet the requirements of the National Senior Certificate or short of one subject to meet the requirements for admission to Higher Education.
In essence, the Supplementary Examination provides candidates with a second opportunity to meet the requirements of the NSC and is, therefore, in keeping with the principle of broadening access to education.
The high number of learners who enrolled to write the supplementary examinations is an indication that the Second Chance NSC Programme is yielding positive results. This year we saw 25 577 more candidates than in 2015.
However about 40 142 candidates who enrolled did not write the examination. This represents a “no show” of 34.6%, and when considered against the high costs incurred in running a full-scale examination, it is imperative that as the DBE we institute measures to curb the high level of “no shows”.
The results
The overall performance is reflected by combining the November 2015 NSC examination with the 2016 NSC Supplementary examinations.
The results indicate an increase in performance across all Provincial Education Department’s, when compared to the 2015 NSC examinations, with the increase ranging from 1.0% to 2.4% and the national performance increasing by 1.4%.
The overall national performance, i.e. 2015 November and 2016 Supplementary examinations combined, reflects a 72.1% pass rate, which is an increase of 1.4% from the 70.7% obtained in the November 2015 NSC examination. This implies that 10 131 more candidates passed the National Senior Certificate examinations.
The number of candidates with improved achievement increased in all categories of passes, with the highest improvement noted in the Higher Certificate. A total of 6 567 more candidates obtained higher certificates, 1 313 more candidates qualified for admission to Bachelor‘s studies while 2 090 more candidates achieved admission to Diploma studies.
In summary, 10 131 more candidates achieved the NSC after the writing of the 2015 Supplementary examinations.
These candidates now qualify to enter into different forms of further education programmes and contribute to the economy of the country.
A summary of the gains emanating from the 2015 Supplementary examination is as follows:
- The total number of candidates that achieved the NSC has increased from 455 825 to 465 956, an increase of 10 131 candidates.
- The total number of candidates that obtained the Higher Certificate has increased from 105 770 to 112 337, an increase of 6 567 candidates.
- The number of candidates who obtained admission to Diploma studies has increased from 183 720 to 185 810, which is an additional 2 090 candidates.
- The number of candidates that obtained admission to Bachelor’s studies has increased from 166 263 to 167 576, translating to 1 313 more candidates compared to the November 2015 NSC examination results.
The overall pass rate increased by 1.4% from 70.7% to 72.1%, which is very encouraging. Furthermore, it is noteworthy that four (4) of the nine (9) provinces performed above 80% with five of them performing above the national average.
The improvement is encouraging as it confirms that the supplementary examination is serving its intended purpose of allowing candidates who have narrowly missed a pass, a second attempt to improve their results.
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