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The 2019 National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations saw 81.3% of matriculants pass - a 3% increase from the 78.2% pass rate the previous year.
This year's NSC exams saw 788 717 candidates register to write, comprising full-time and part-time pupils.
Of that, 504 303 full-time candidates, and 106 385 part-time candidates sat for all seven subjects, including 147 question papers at 6 870 examination centres nationwide.
Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga made the official announcement in Midrand on Tuesday evening to a room filled with education sector stakeholders.
2016 matric results | You can get your results here
This pass rate continues the improved trend for the NSC overall pass rate over the last three years, progressed pupils included.
It also improved by 3.1% from 2017 (75.1%) to 2018 (78.2%), progressed pupils included.
Free State tops provinces
The Free State ranked No 1 in 2019 with an 88.4% pass rate, while Gauteng achieved 87.2%.
This is a reversal of the 2018 results, when the Free State came in second with an 87.5% pass rate while Gauteng achieved 87.9%.
Third for 2019 was the North West with an 86.8% pass rate, followed by the Western Cape with 82.3%.
KwaZulu-Natal is not far behind ranking fifth with 81.3% followed by Mpumalanga with 80.3%.
Northern Cape ranked seventh with 76.5% followed by the Eastern Cape with 76.5%, while Limpopo ranked ninth with 73.2%.
