MORE than 27 000 candidates in the Western Cape have registered for the combined National Senior Certificate (NSC) and Senior Certificate May/June exams.
Provincial education spokesperson Bronagh Hammond said the tests commenced with “little disruption” on Wednesday as six learners were registered to write Arabic Second Additional Language Paper 1, and 2001 learners Accounting Paper 1.
The exams were initially expected to start on May 5, but were postponed and will now run until July 7, over 30 days and 60 exam sessions.
The first week of the exams will see mostly language papers being written. Thursday morning’s paper starts at 9am while the afternoon exam starts at 2pm.
“There are 12 605 NSC candidates who completed their Grade 12 in 2020 and are rewriting their NSC subjects to improve their results. While 14901 SC candidates are adults older than 21-years-old and out of school youths between 18 and 20 years old.”
Hammond said all Covid-19 protocols for screening candidates on arrival, sanitizing and social distancing and wearing masks throughout the exams were in place.
“Invigilators were formally trained by the department in September 2020 and refresher sessions took place at the schools prior to the exam. We would like to wish each and every candidate the best for these examinations.”
The matric second-chance examinations which are written mid-year are also known as supplementary exams.
Supplementary examinations are open to those who have not passed matric, or candidates who did not satisfy the requirements for their certificates. It gives them a second chance to get their matric certificates. It also gives candidates who could not attend or finish the examination (for medical reasons or a death in the family, for example) a chance to do so.