Matric pupils across the country have returned to their schools today to collect their National Senior Certificates, with pupils in the Western Cape able to collect their results from midday onwards.

Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga announced that the matric pass rate for the 2015 academic year is 70,7% which has decreased by 5 percent from the previous year.

The Voice of the Cape visited Queen’s Park High School in Salt River, Cape Town and spoke to some pupils. Whilst waiting for their matric results to be made available at midday, many students said that they experienced a cocktail of emotions. Some were anxious and expressed that the wait for their results was somewhat unnerving, whilst others were confident that they had passed their exams and were excited that today signified the end of era, calling for great celebration.

Information Technology hopeful, Nelita Osman said that hard work indeed pays off in the end.

“It was just a lot of work, but if you focused, studied and did homework, it wasn’t really that hard to achieve your goals.”

She was pleasantly surprised to find that she was the only learner with an overall distinction at Queens Park High. Her mother, Esmeralda Osman was overwhelmed and beaming with pride at her daughters results and expressed her delight that her daughter had been the only student to achieve an overall aggregate of all A’s at the school.

“We didn’t really expect it, she was just hoping to make it through. For me to help my daughter make a better life for herself has been an absolute pleasure. All the late nights till 3am in preparation for an exam the next morning has really paid off,” Osman explained.

A psychology hopeful, Elizabeth Aminata hopes to study at the University of the Western Cape and is just awaiting confirmation of acceptance from the university.

“I’m not an A student, but I’ve worked really hard so hopefully my efforts will pay off,” Aminata said.

Queens Park High’s Mrs Barendilla, the grade 12 head, says that many students have surprised them by doing so well. The pass rate for the 2015 academic year at Queens Park High is 87,9 percent, with 14 Bachelor’s Degree passes, double that of last year, 28 Diplomas and 16 Higher Certificates.

“8 learners failed their matric exams, and our pass rate has decreased, but that was expected. In spite of that, many of our pupils have done really well and surprised us. We are also very proud to have had one learner with an aggregate of 12 A’s,” says Queens Park High principal Andre Van der Merwe.

The Western Cape is not only the province with the highest 2015 matric pass rate, 84.7%, but it is also the only province to have increased its pass rate. VOC (Haanim Davids)