Matric 2025: Why this is South Africa’s worst-performing province
However, the province is not without its stars. Five schools have maintained a 100% pass rate for five consecutive years.
The Matric 2025 cohort has delivered a record-breaking national pass rate of 88%, the highest in the country’s history, but the Eastern Cape remains rooted to the bottom of the provincial leaderboard.
Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube announced the results in Johannesburg on Monday, noting that while every province achieved above 80%, the Eastern Cape’s 84.17% placed it ninth overall.
While the national story is one of resilience, the provincial breakdown highlights a shifting guard at the top. KwaZulu-Natal has surged to first place with 90.60%, dethroning the Free State, which finished second.
Matric 2025: Eastern Cape and other provinces’ performance breakdown
The following table illustrates the 2025 National Senior Certificate (NSC) provincial rankings from highest to lowest achievement:
| Province | Pass Rate (%) |
|---|---|
| KwaZulu-Natal | 90.60% |
| Free State | 89.33% |
| Gauteng | 89.06% |
| North West | 88.49% |
| Western Cape | 88.20% |
| Northern Cape | 87.79% |
| Mpumalanga | 86.55% |
| Limpopo | 86.15% |
| Eastern Cape | 84.17% |
Bachelor pass decline and economic hurdles
Despite the Eastern Cape’s 80% achievement across all districts, qualitative indicators suggest a “quality” crisis. The province’s Education MEC Fundile Gade revealed that bachelor passes in the province have declined, dropping from 45.78% in 2024 to 41.54% in 2025.
This dip coincides with a bleak economic backdrop. The Eastern Cape economy contracted by -0.2% in 2024, and its unemployment rate climbed to a staggering 41.2% in late 2025.
Education expert Professor Susan van Rensburg noted, according to IOL, that “learner migration” also distorts results, as top-performing pupils from the province often move to KwaZulu-Natal or the Western Cape, where their successes are credited to those administrations.
Systemic scandals and pockets of excellence
Gade pointed to several systemic disruptions, including taxi strikes and a sexual harassment scandal that saw over 30 educators suspended during the examinations. Furthermore, the Eastern Cape continues to struggle with high dropout rates and “social ills”.
However, the province is not without its stars. Five schools, including Collegiate Girls’ High and King Edward High, have maintained a 100% pass rate for five consecutive years.
While Gwarube lauded the national class for overcoming the “deep imprint of inequality”, the Eastern Cape’s struggle remains the clearest evidence of that divide.