83.6% of IEB matrics get exemptions

The majority of matrics who wrote the Independent Examinations Board (IEB) year-end exams will have a shot at a university degree.

According to results announced by the IEB on Friday, 83.6% of its 9 493 matrics passed with university exemption, up from 81.67% last year. More than 98% of the students passed.

According to the 2011 matric results, 24.3% of pupils in public schools passed with university entrance, while 70.8% passed.

Anne Oberholzer, chief executive of the IEB, said the results showed that “students are realising it’s not enough to merely pass. If you want to succeed in life, you have to do more.”

She said this attitude was likely owing to the “debate in the press around the quality of the 30% pass mark”.

According to the IEB, three of its candidates got 10 distinctions, 27 got nine As and 177 obtained eight As. She said schools that qualified to write the IEB exams ranged from prestigious private schools to low-fee independent schools in rural KwaZulu-Natal.

“As with anything, there are good state schools and good independent schools. There are also bad state schools where learning is very weak and we all know about the fly-by-night independent schools.”

Oberholzer said that although independent education was on the rise, it would always “remain a relatively small part of mainstream education”.

The 9 394 independent candidates represent 1.4% of the total number of matrics who wrote exams this year.