Umalusi says adequate measures are in place to safeguard the integrity of South Africa’s 2026 National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations, as a record number of full-time candidates prepare to sit their matric exams.
The Department of Basic Education has confirmed that 962,832 candidates are registered for the October/November examinations.
This includes 815,051 full-time candidates — an increase of 48,508 from last year — and 147,781 part-time candidates, including those seeking to improve their previous results.
The examinations run from 13 October to 26 November, with Computer Applications Technology and language papers among the first to be written.
Umalusi spokesperson Biki Lepota says the council has spent the past few months auditing the systems and facilities involved in the examination process, from learner registration and examination centres to question-paper storage, printing and transportation.
“In terms of the law, Umalusi is mandated to audit the state of readiness of the system prior to examinations being conducted on an annual basis,” Lepota said.
He says the audits also considered the security measures introduced following the question-paper breach at the Department of Basic Education last year.
“On the basis of all this, Umalusi is satisfied that adequate measures have been put in place. The previous systems have been tightened up, and hopefully everything will run according to plan. There are over a million candidates that will be writing,” Lepota said.
The Class of 2026 is the largest full-time cohort to sit the NSC examinations to date.
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