The infraction was identified through the department’s internal quality control and monitoring processes.
The Basic Education Department has confirmed that it has identified a breach in the marking process for the 2025 National Senior Certificate (NSC) final examinations.
The department said the infraction was identified during its internal monitoring.
Matric marking
More than 52 000 markers across the country have been working around the clock to mark the matric exam papers, with the process expected to be completed on 18 December 2025.
Basic education department spokesperson Terence Khala said Minister Siviwe Gwarube will address the media at an urgent briefing following the identification of an examination breach during the marking of the 2025 examination papers.
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“The breach was detected through the department’s internal monitoring and oversight systems. Minister Gwarube will outline the immediate interventions and the measures being implemented.”
Exams
Matric pupils across South Africa wrote their final NSC papers on Thursday, 27 November 2025.
Last month, the DBE said marking will continue throughout December, with results scheduled for release to candidates on 13 January 2026 and on 16 January 2026.
According to the department, candidates are urged to get their statements of results from their school/centre where they wrote the exams.
“Candidates’ results will also be available on this website from 6am on 13 January 2026. Result queries should be submitted for investigation within 30 days after the release of results.”
Publication battle
In October, the battle for the publication of the matric results played out in court.
The North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria reserved judgment regarding the publication of NSC examination results by the DBE following a two-day hearing on the matter.
From 27 to 28 October 2025, the Information Regulator (IR) and the DBE returned to the High Court for their case, which had been set down for argument before the full bench.
This followed the dismissal of the IR’s urgent application in the High Court on 09 January 2025.
Urgent application
The IR filed an urgent application to prevent the publication of the NSC examination results in newspapers, citing concerns about a potential violation of students’ privacy under the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA).
However, the DBE opposed the application, with AfriForum joining the case as an interested party.
Despite the IR’s enforcement notice issued in November last year and a potential R5 million fine, the DBE planned to announce the results.
The EFF also sided with the IR in the court challenge, expressing concerns over the publication of examination results.
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