North West Matric Results 2025: Province Hits 88.49% as Bojanala Platinum Leads
The North West Department of Education has announced a stellar performance for the Class of 2025, with an overall pass rate of 88.49%. This marks a consistent upward trajectory for the province, rising from 81.6% in 2023 and 87.5% in 2024.
Out of the 40,913 candidates who sat for the National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations, 36,205 successfully earned their certificates, solidifying the North West’s reputation for academic improvement.
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1. Quality of Results: Strong University Eligibility
The North West continues to punch above its weight regarding the quality of its passes. In 2025, more than 44% of all candidates qualified for Bachelor-level studies.
Breakdown of Pass Types
- Bachelor Admissions: 18,166 candidates (44.4%) — qualifying for degree studies.
- Diploma Passes: 12,142 candidates (29.7%).
- Higher Certificates: 5,896 candidates (14.4%).
- Distinction Rate: The province achieved a 3.9% distinction rate.
2. Gateway Subject Performance: Science and Math Success
Using the “Inclusive Basket of Criteria,” the North West showed particularly strong performance in Physical Sciences and Mathematics, which are critical for the province’s mining and agricultural economies.
| Subject | Pass Rate |
| Technical Mathematics | 83.7% |
| Physical Sciences | 79.1% |
| Accounting | 75.7% |
| Mathematics (Pure) | 67.8% |
While only 25.9% of the cohort enrolled for Pure Mathematics, the high pass rate within that group indicates a strong grasp of the curriculum among those who took the subject.
3. Socio-economic Performance and Gender Trends
The 2025 results show that while independent schools lead, the gap between fee-paying and no-fee schools is relatively narrow in the North West.
School Category Highlights
- Independent Schools: 95.2% pass rate.
- Fee-Paying Schools: 92.3% pass rate.
- No-Fee Schools (Quintiles 1–3): 87.3% pass rate.
Gender Achievement
In an interesting trend, male candidates achieved a higher overall pass rate (89.1% vs 88.0%), yet female learners dominated in quality, attaining 10,469 Bachelor passes compared to 7,697 for males.
4. 2025 North West District Rankings
All four districts in the province performed exceptionally well, with every district staying comfortably above the 85% mark. Bojanala Platinum remains the academic powerhouse of the province.
| Rank | District | Pass Rate |
| 1 | Bojanala Platinum | 90.82% |
| 2 | Dr. Kenneth Kaunda | 87.84% |
| 3 | Dr. Ruth Segomotsi Mompati | 87.20% |
| 4 | Ngaka Modiri Molema | 85.61% |
School Success: Of the 444 schools in the province, 45 recorded a perfect 100% pass rate, and 83.1% of all schools achieved a pass rate of 80% or higher.
5. Throughput and Progressed Learners
While the pass rate is high, the province faces a challenge with its throughput rate, which stands at 53.6%. This measures the percentage of a birth cohort that remains in the system from earlier grades to eventually obtain an NSC.
However, the province’s support for “progressed learners” (those pushed through to Grade 12 despite previous failures) was successful, with 60.4% of these students successfully attaining their certificates in 2025.
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