Over 77,000 Candidates Set to Write 2025 Matric Exams in the Western Cape

The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) has confirmed that 77,442 candidates will sit for the 2025 National Senior Certificate (NSC) exams in the province, an increase of more than 3,200 full-time learners compared to last year.

Of the total candidates, 67,606 are full-time matric learners, while 9,836 are part-time or repeat candidates.

The final exams officially begin on Tuesday, 21 October 2025, starting with 12,736 candidates writing the Computer Applications Technology (CAT) Practical exam in the morning. By the time the exam season concludes on 26 November 2025, learners will have written 112 different papers.

Mathematical Literacy Tops the List

As in previous years, Mathematical Literacy remains the most popular subject, with 53,206 candidates expected to write Paper 1 on Friday, 31 October, and Paper 2 on Monday, 3 November.

At the other end of the spectrum, two subjects; Sesotho First Additional Language and Setswana Home Language each have just one candidate writing in the province.

A Massive Provincial Operation

The WCED described the NSC exams as a “mammoth administrative exercise.”
Candidates will write at 473 examination centres across the Western Cape, monitored by 2,046 trained invigilators.

Marking will begin in early December, with an estimated 954,000 examination scripts to be marked by 4,190 markers.

Results in January 2026

The Minister of Basic Education will announce the national and provincial matric results on Monday, 12 January 2026, and candidates will receive their individual results on Tuesday, 13 January 2026.

“We appreciate the incredible work that our examination officials do each year to ensure that the exams run smoothly,” the WCED said in a statement. “Our matrics and their teachers have put in a tremendous amount of work to prepare, and we wish them all the best for the final days of revision.”

Source: Western Cape Education Department (WCED), South Africa.

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