The May/June examination is a special examination offered to adult candidates that have not attained a matric qualification and also to candidates that wrote the previous November examination but may not have met the requirements for a certificate or may have passed but wish to improve their results. A total of 239 024 candidates enrolled to write this examination. This included both the National Senior Certificate (NSC) and Senior Certificate (SC) candidates. 95 525 of these candidates were National Senior Certificate candidates and 143 499 of these candidates were Senior Certificate candidates.
The writing of the May/June 2021 Grade 12 examination commenced on Wednesday, 26 May 2021 and concluded on Wednesday, 07 July 2021. The May/June 2021 examination was written by a diverse cohort of candidates, comprising employed adults, unemployed youth and school learners that wrote the previous Grade 12 examination in November 2020. The criteria for the registration of the May/June examination include the following:
Adult learners with incomplete Senior Certificate requirements, as well as those adult learners with no previous Senior Certificate credits, provided they have completed Grade 9 (or standard seven) or ABET Level IV;
Candidates that enrolled for the 2020 NSC examination, who either failed the examination or passed but wanted to improve their results;
Learners that may have dropped out of school in Grade 10 or Grade 11, due to special circumstances; and
Candidates who were absent from the November 2020 examination, with a valid reason.
The 2021 May/June examination was successfully administered despite the enormous challenges relating to the Covid-19 pandemic. Both candidates with COVID-19 symptoms and those that tested positive were allowed to write the examination in special isolation venues.
The prevalence of examination irregularities of a serious nature such as imposters, crib notes and possession of cell phones during the writing has declined compared to previous years.
The administration of the examination was strictly monitored by the Department of Basic Education (DBE), Provincial Education Departments (PEDs) and Umalusi, the Quality Assurance Council. The marking of the 772 404 scripts, undertaken by 9 323 markers across 54 marking centres in the country was completed during the school vacation in July 2021. Despite the protests and the rise in infections during this period, in certain provinces, the marking was completed according to plan, observing the high standards commensurate with these examinations.
On 12 August 2021, the Council for Quality Assurance, after having scrutinised the reports from both the DBE and the Umalusi monitors, declared the 2021 May/June examinations as being conducted in accordance with the standards prescribed in the Examinations regulations and also confirmed that there were no irregularities that were of such a nature so as to compromise the examinations as a whole. At this meeting the results of the examination were approved for release to candidates.
The results of these candidates cannot be reported in terms of overall passes or candidates that have attained the NSC or the SC, given that candidates register to write one or more subjects in this examination. A significant number of candidates attained a pass in the gateway subjects including Mathematics and Physical Sciences. The total number of candidates who attained a pass in Mathematics and Physical Sciences is 11 557 and 8 258 respectively.
The results of candidates that wrote this examination will be available at the district office or at the centre where the examination was written.
Senior Certificate candidates who sat for this examination can obtain their results from the DBE website www.education.gov.za.
If a candidate is not pleased with his/her performance in a subject, such a candidate is free to request for a recheck or remark of his/her script and/or even request to view the script. The centres where the candidates wrote their examination or the district office, will assist the candidate to complete the application form for this purpose.
The May/June examination is becoming more popular and many candidates are using this second examination opportunity to improve their performance or complete the remaining subjects for them to achieve the National Senior Certificate (NSC) or the Senior Certificate (SC). All candidates who are eligible to write this examination must register and such candidates must also participate in the Second Chance Matric support programme. The Second Chance Matric programme offers face to face support programmes, learning support material and on-line support.
Source: Government of South Africa