This year’s matric pupils whose first language was not English or Afrikaans will not benefit from a policy which gave matrics an additional five percent of their original mark in subjects including geography and maths.

They will be the first matrics not to benefit from the policy since 1999.

The policy was intended as an interim measure to compensate for the disadvantage faced by pupils forced to write their final exams in a language which was not their mother tongue.

This meant that if a pupil’s original mark in a non-language subject such as history or economics was 50 %, they would receive an additional 2.5 % points.

Matrics who were registered with an African language as their home language, and English or Afrikaans as their first additional language, had qualified for the language compensation.

Basic Education spokesman Elijah Mhlanga said the department was “confident” that discontinuing the policy would not adversely affect the performance of pupils.

Research published in the Perspectives in Education journal in March suggested there was strong evidence of disadvantage for Grade 12 pupils who were taught in and wrote their final exams in their second or third language.