While her peers flocked to school to collect their matric results, Willowmoore High School top achiever Zahra Ballim spent the day at Ismail and Dahya Attorneys in Boksburg, already laying the groundwork for her future as she prepares to pursue a career in law.

“I’m trying to get a feel for what it’s like if I end up pursuing something in this field. It’s important to have the experience beforehand. You won’t know which career is right for you until you understand what you’re getting yourself into,” she said.

Ballim emerged as Willowmoore’s top performer in the 2025 National Senior Certificate exams after attaining six distinctions: English home language, Afrikaans first additional language, maths literacy, business studies, economics and life orientation.

Though ecstatic with her achievement, Ballim admitted that the academic year was nerve-wracking and was relieved that the stress and pressure were behind her.

“It was difficult. I struggled with procrastination and managing my stress and social life. It was tough juggling it all at the same time.”

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The top achiever set clear goals at the beginning of the year. She created a planner to help her manage her schedule, but was astonished by how quickly the year went by, adding that she found the gap between the preliminary and final exams challenging.

“I had a to-do list and a daily planner. It helped me start the day knowing I could focus and do at least two subjects a day, and carry it on as the year went by.

“I found how fast the year went by challenging. We didn’t have enough time to process the prelims before jumping straight into the finals,” said Ballim.

She advised incumbent matric learners to focus on their studies and make time for their social lives, saying, “Sometimes it’s easy to neglect your mental health and let the pressure get to you.”

Ballim thanked her teachers at Willowmoore High for their support and encouragement throughout her matric year.

“I particularly thank my business studies and economics teachers. They supported me throughout this journey. Also, thank you to my maths literacy teacher. He always encouraged and pushed me to work hard.”

Improved pass rate

Willowmoore High achieved a 96.8% pass rate, an improvement of 0.7% from the 96.1% scored by the Class of 2024.

It received 99 distinctions and 63% of learners received bachelor’s marks, while there was a 100% pass rate in 11 subjects, including English home language, mechanical technology and Computer Applications Technology.

Sharon Sithole, Mbali Dhlomo and Sumaviya Waseem attained four distinctions each.

Principal Lorna Sanders, who retired at the end of the academic year, said, “We are proud of the learners. We had a much-improved pass rate. The results are good, and we are proud.”

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