Our World in Charts is a unique collection of hundreds of charts published by The Outlier. The charts cover key issues both in South Africa and around the world on topics such as education, economy, politics, sport and more. Republish our charts for free.
Nearly half of the class of 2024 passed their final exams well enough to apply to study at a university, with more than 330,000 of South Africa’s Grade 12 learners achieving a bachelor pass.
The proportion of learners scoring the highest-level pass has risen significantly in the past decade. In 2014, less than a third of learners who wrote matric exams achieved a bachelor pass. In 2024, the percentage of bachelor passes was 47.8% – the highest proportion ever recorded.
Grade 12 girls have been outperforming boys since 2020, with 49.2% of girls earning bachelor passes in 2024, according to data from the department of basic education.
A bachelor pass is a minimum requirement for tertiary education, which, according to a Statistics SA earnings report released last year, can have a significant effect on the money a person earns.
This year’s national pass rate was 87.4%. This is a 4.4 percentage point increase from 2023.
— 19 January, 2025Subscribe to the weekly newsletter for more charts like this
