The department of basic education is on track with its preparations for the largest ever matric exams, which start next Thursday.

Image: 123RF/Julija Sapic
This is according to the department’s head of assessments, Rufus Poliah, who briefed parliament on Tuesday on its exam system readiness.
For the first time in the country’s history, more than 1 million candidates will sit for the exams.
This is because they are combined exams that will also cater for candidates who were meant to sit for the May/June exams, which were cancelled after the country went into lockdown because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Five different cohorts will write the exams, including 616,021 full-time candidates who are at school. A total of 616,754 full-time candidates sat for last year’s exams.