As South Africa's Class of 2025 awaits their National Senior Certificate results, a fun quiz from past exam papers offers light relief. Minister Siviwe Gwarube will announce the outcomes on 12 January 2026. The 20-question test covers key subjects without the pressure of real exams.
The anticipation builds for the release of the 2025 matric results, set for Monday, 12 January 2026, when Minister of Basic Education Siviwe Gwarube will reveal the national scores for the National Senior Certificate (NSC) exams. This comes just days after the publication of a light-hearted quiz by Daily Maverick on 9 January 2026, designed to distract matriculants, parents, and others from the stress of waiting.
The quiz draws directly from past NSC exam papers and includes 20 questions testing knowledge in English, mathematical literacy, life orientation, and life sciences. Unlike the rigorous NSC assessments, which evaluate mastery of the CAPS curriculum through essays, data exercises, experiments, and problem-solving across seven subjects, this version is bite-sized and stress-free. Participants are encouraged to avoid cheating, with a playful warning about Umalusi, the quality assurance body for the exams.
Answers are provided below the questions in the article, allowing users to check their performance immediately. The initiative aims to engage the public in a fun way while highlighting the importance of the upcoming results. For ongoing updates, readers are directed to Daily Maverick's First Thing newsletter.
This approach underscores the high stakes of matric outcomes in South Africa, where the results influence university admissions and career paths for thousands of students.
