The national education quality assurance body, Umalusi, has approved the release of the 2023 Matric results later this week, offering candidates various methods to obtain their results. The association’s chairperson, Yunus Ballim, emphasized that despite some irregularities, the overall credibility and integrity of the examinations remain intact.
Release Date and Ministerial Announcement
The Department of Basic Education Minister, Angie Motshekga, is expected to announce the NSC exam results on Thursday, January 18, with the general result release scheduled for the following day.
Challenges and Quality Assurance Concerns
While the exams were generally deemed credible, Umalusi expressed concern about recurring printing and packaging errors in certain question papers. These errors were addressed by excluding affected questions from the marking process and upscaling marks using conversion tables.
Challenges Faced:
- A printing error in Physical Sciences Paper 2.
- Missing grid lines in a question in the North West.
- Significant printing errors in Limpopo affecting various subjects.
- Poor translation quality in Afrikaans-translated Geography Paper 1.
- Cultural and political errors in Mathematical Literacy Paper 1 and Mandarin Paper 1.
- Lack of information for candidates on changes to isiZulu First Additional Language Paper 2.
How to Access Results
Candidates have several options to access their results:
Schools or Institutions: Results can be obtained directly from the schools or institutions where the exams were taken, usually available after 12:00 PM on the release day.
Department of Basic Education Website: Candidates can log onto the DBE website for results. A two-step verification process requires the 13-digit ID number and Exam Number for registration. The website can be accessed without data charges.
Online News Websites: Results will be published on various news websites, including News24’s Matric Results page or The Sowetan’s page.
SMS: By texting their exam number to 45856, candidates will receive their results. Each SMS costs R1.50.
USSD Code: Dialing 12045856# and entering the exam number allows candidates to register and receive results via USSD. The service is charged at R1.50 per minute.
MatricsMate App: Results can be downloaded for free from Google Play and Apple App Stores using the MatricsMate App.
Newspapers: Major daily newspapers will publish matric results on January 20, 2023.
Umalusi urges all stakeholders to implement stringent measures to prevent future errors, ensuring fairness to candidates.
