SA’s matric IT learners passing but not mastering subjects
Basic education minister Siviwe Gwarube. (Image: Nicola Mawson | Pixabay)
Serious intervention is needed in how SA schools teach specialised IT subjects, if the country is to fully take advantage of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI).
In her results announcement of the matric class of 2025, basic education minister Siviwe Gwarube noted that “quality is measured by what learners can do, and by whether opportunity stays open in gateway subjects”.
Yet an analysis of key IT subjects in the matric marks shows only a basic understanding of learners’ ability to identify, dissect and solve problems, according to Jacqui Muller, a researcher at Belgium Campus iTversity and a PhD candidate in computer science and information technology with information ystems.
The class of 2025 achieved a record pass rate of 88%. Of the more than 900 000 matric candidates, only 2 751 wrote finals in the three key IT-related technical subjects of computer applications technology (CAT), information technology (IT), and technical mathematics.
High passes, vanishing distinctions
The 1 460 learners studying CAT have been receiving consistently high pass rates, having improved steadily since 2022, when there was a pass rate of 92.4%. 2025 marks the first flat-to-slight decline after three years of gains as it declined 0.1 percentage points to 95.1% when compared with 2024.
In addition, this year’s cohort achieved a very low distinction rate at less than 0.5%, indicating that, while most learners pass, high-end performance remains rare.
When it comes to IT, learners demonstrated that it was one of the strongest-performing technical subjects in the National Senior Certificate, with a pass rate that gained 0.4 percentage points year-on-year to 96.7%, showing continuous improvement from 92.1% in 2022.
Yet, distinction numbers are extremely low, coming in at zero in both 2024 and 2025. This subject remains niche, as only 28 learners wrote final exams.
Technical mathematics, studied by 1 263 learners, shows the most dramatic improvement of the three subjects, with the pass rate gaining 1.5 percentage points. The success rate is up from 81.8% in 2022, indicating systemic improvement and not a one-year anomaly.
Despite this, distinction rates remain very low at 0.1% in 2025, even with the higher overall passes.
Problem-solving skills deficit
Muller says the current state of the pass rate for each subject shows that learners have a basic understanding of the core components used to solve problems.
“However, the low distinction rates are still alarming as they show that learners are not yet mastering their ability to identify, dissect and solve problems to the level that is required,” she adds.
– Nicola Mawson, Contributing Journalist, ITWeb
