2025 Matric Results – Learner Wellbeing Support Crucial for Continued Success

As South Africa celebrates the release of the 2025 National Senior Certificate (NSC) results, the Zero Dropout Campaign congratulates all learners who have reached this milestone under increasingly complex and demanding circumstances.

In recent years, national matric pass rates have continued to improve, reflecting the determination of learners, educators, and families across the country. Of the learners who sat down for the final matric exams at the end of 2025, 88% obtained their NSC through Umalusi, and 98.3% obtained theirs through the Independent Examinations Board. This is a remarkable and second consecutive record-breaking year for South Africa’ learners and Department of Basic Education.

Considering the regression in throughput (the percentage of learners progressing from Grade 10 through Grade 12) that the 2024 cohort experienced, the Zero Dropout Campaign welcomes and fully supports Minister Gwarube’s commitment to prioritise a more proactive and comprehensive retention strategy to reduce dropout and improve throughput in 2026.

We also note the Minister’s and Director-General’s acknowledgments of the social, economic, and mental health challenges that continue to affect learners’ ability to remain engaged and succeed in school, and support their commitment to also prioritse psychosocial support this year. Evidence consistently shows that dropout is rarely a sudden or purely academic decision, but rather the result of cumulative socioeconomic stressors on learners over time.

Currently, it is still estimated that four in ten learners who begin Grade 1 will not matriculate or achieve an alternative qualification.

In our 2024 national survey, School Dropout: Advocacy to Action, we confirmed that learners who face unaddressed mental health challenges, trauma, caregiving responsibilities, or chronic stress are particularly at risk of disengagement long before matric. Further, we found that at least 40% of the people surveyed who had or were planning to dropout were not happy about it.

“Dropout is unfortunately still normalised in some corners of our society. If we are to improve our national throughput, completion, and post-school success, psychosocial and wellbeing support must be treated as a core part of the education system, not an optional add-on,” said Zero Dropout Campaign Programme Director, Merle Mansfield.

Dropout is still a critical indicator of our school system’s success, and a crucial component for sectoral accountability. Considering this year’s matric results and broader trends in local education, the Zero Dropout Campaign calls for:

• Early identification of risk factors for disengagement, through Early Warning Systems, starting in primary and lower secondary school to ensure interventions before disengagement and dropout occur;

• Expanded school-based psychosocial support, including counsellors, social workers, and referral networks, especially in under-resourced communities; and

• Stronger collaboration between education, health, and social development sectors, recognising that learner wellbeing cuts across departments.

“Celebrating matric results must go hand in hand with asking who was left behind and why,” added Mansfield. “Supporting learner wellbeing is not only about care and compassion; it is a proven strategy for improving retention, learning outcomes, and long-term life success.”

As South Africa celebrates matric results this evening and a new school year this week, it is also a timely opportunity for policymakers, educators, and the public to recommit to a schooling system that supports learners academically, socially, and emotionally, from the first day of school through to meaningful post-school pathways.

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For more information or to arrange interviews, contact Siyabulela Sandi on +27 78 668 2603 or via email on siyabulela@zerodropout.co.za.