Record matric pass rate masks decline in maths and accounting
While the matric Class of 2025 rides high on its record-breaking pass rate, it is important to note a decline in mathematics and accounting.
WITH the Class of 2025 achieving a record national matric pass rate of 88%, the highest in South Africa’s democratic history, this success should not obscure emerging structural weaknesses in Mathematics and accounting.
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Subjects central to economic participation, professional careers and long-term national development is on a continual decline in performance and quality outcomes.
The Chartered Institute for Business Accountants (CIBA) explained that while overall pass rates improved, the performance in critical gateway subjects tells a more sobering story.
Minister of Basic Education Siviwe Gwarube highlighted that accounting’s pass rate declined from 81% in 2024 to 78% in 2025, while physical sciences showed only a marginal improvement, increasing from 76% to 77%. More concerning, however, is that the 2025 cohort produced fewer distinctions in accounting, mathematics, and physical sciences than in the previous year, signaling a decline not only in pass rates, but in high-level subject mastery.
Faith Ngwenya, head of education at CIBA, emphasised that, “Distinctions matter. They are a proxy for depth of understanding, analytical ability, and readiness for demanding tertiary programmes. Fewer distinctions in mathematics and accounting should concern anyone focused on the future skills pipeline.”
Why this decline matters
From CIBA’s perspective, the implications are far-reaching:
- Reduced preparedness for university and professional studies in accounting, finance, engineering, and science-based disciplines.
- Weaker quantitative and financial literacy, undermining entrepreneurship, governance, and employability.
- A constrained pipeline of future accountants and financial professionals, at a time when South Africa requires stronger financial capability across both the public and private sectors.
“Mathematics and accounting are not optional subjects for a developing economy. They underpin financial management, public accountability, business sustainability, and ethical decision-making,” Ngwenya added.
A call for targeted intervention
CIBA calls on education stakeholders to shift the national conversation from pass rates alone to subject quality and competence, and to act decisively by:
- Reinforcing mathematics and accounting at Grades 10–12, with focused learner support and teacher development.
- Strengthening foundational numeracy earlier in the schooling system, where many of the later performance gaps originate.
- Positioning accounting as a strategic subject, clearly linked to careers, entrepreneurship, and economic empowerment.
“An 88% pass rate is worth acknowledging,” said Ngwenya, “but true progress will be measured by how many learners leave school equipped to analyse, calculate, account, and lead in a complex economy,” concluded Ngwenya.
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