The Democratic Alliance (DA) welcomes the release of the 2025 National Senior Certificate (NSC) results and congratulates the Class of 2025 on reaching this milestone.
The DA extends special recognition to learners from no-fee schools, learners who succeeded despite socio-economic hardship, and those who overcame personal and structural challenges to complete matric. Their achievements underscore the resilience of South Africa’s young people and the importance of protecting learner opportunity at every stage of the schooling system.
We also congratulate all IEB matriculants on their 2025 results.
The DA notes progress in inclusion, with increased participation of learners with special education needs alongside improved performance outcomes for these learners.
We welcome the Minister’s honest and evidence-based analysis of what the results show about the education system, particularly the ongoing challenge of learner throughput, including the drop-off between Grade 10 and Grade 12, as well as persistent performance difficulties in key gateway subjects such as Mathematics and Physical Sciences.
The DA supports the Minister’s commitment to address these concerns through targeted interventions to improve learner retention and success across the FET phase, and through strengthened support for gateway subjects that are critical to access further study and employment opportunities.
Protecting learners must remain central to reform. This includes ensuring that learners who benefit from social grants are effectively supported to remain in school and complete matric successfully, so that income support translates into long-term educational and economic opportunity.
Finally, the DA reaffirms the urgent need to strengthen the foundations of learning, particularly early literacy and numeracy. We welcome the Minister’s strategic focus on foundational learning as the most sustainable long-term lever for improving educational outcomes and ensuring that future matric cohorts are better prepared to succeed.
The DA remains committed to supporting credible, learner-centred reforms that strengthen the public education system and expand opportunity for every learner in South Africa.