The breach involved a number of pupils across seven schools in the Pretoria area.
The basic education department has confirmed irregularities in six matric exam scripts in Gauteng.
The department on Wednesday confirmed that it had identified a breach during the marking process for the 2025 National Senior Certificate final examinations.
Addressing the media at an urgent briefing on Thursday, following the identification of an examination breach during the marking of the 2025 papers, Gwarube said it was the markers’ diligence that led to the detection of the breach.
Leak
Gwarube stated that markers initially flagged an unusual similarity between the answers provided by a candidate for the English home language paper 2 and the answers in the marking guide.
Gwarube added that the breach involved a few individual learners across seven schools in the Pretoria area.
She said after interviewing at least 26 learners, many admitted to gaining access to the question papers before writing their final exams.
“The learners interviewed admitted having prior access to both the English home language paper 2 question paper and the marking guideline.
“Upon studying the question paper, our investigators concluded that it could only have originated from the national department of basic education’s offices.
“Further investigation revealed that the breach extended beyond a single paper,” Gwarube said.
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Papers leaked
Gwarube said the spread appears to be confined to identified pupils at seven schools in a specific area of Pretoria.
“Of the 162 papers we had set, only three subjects were accessed before the examination. English home language papers 1, 2 and 3, mathematics papers 1 and 2 and physical sciences papers 1 and 2. These papers were shared via a USB storage device.
“At this stage, there is no evidence that the breach spread beyond this localised area. However, we are continuing our investigation meticulously,” Gwarube said.
Suspension
Gwarube said two employees of the education department in Gauteng have been suspended amid accusations of leaking several matric papers, and a criminal case had been lodged with the South African Police Service for investigation of theft of state property.
She said one of the employees is a parent to one of the matric pupils, who is being investigated.
Task team
Gwarube said a national investigative task team is also being convened to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the breach.
The investigation will commence on 12 December 2025 and is expected to be completed before the final approval and announcement of the results on 12 January 2025.
Gwarube said the quality assurance council, Umalusi, has been formally notified and briefed on the breach.
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