IEB schools come up trumps again

Pupils at private schools in the Eastern Cape have once again excelled in their Independent Examination Board National Senior Certificate 2019 exams, with some receiving up to seven distinctions.

The results, officially released on Monday at midnight, showed that a 98.82% pass rate was achieved at all IEB-accredited schools in the Southern African region, though this was a slight decrease from 2018’s 98.92%.

Eastern Cape IEB schools include Merrifield College in East London and Diocesan School for Girls (DSG) and St Andrew’s College in Makhanda.

A total of 11,464 full-time and 779 part-time candidates from 227 examination centres across Southern Africa sat for the IEB examinations, and of those who wrote, 668 were from 16 schools in the Eastern Cape.

IEB CEO Anne Oberholzer said 89,51% of pupils achieved entry to study for a degree, 7.91% qualified for a diploma and 1.4% achieved entry for study at the higher certificate level.

She said 67.36% of 1,351 pupils from IEB schools and 993 pupils at state schools achieved a pass above 40% in the advanced programme in maths.

The advanced programme courses are extension courses in mathematics, English and Afrikaans.

They are available to any pupil in SA, attending either state or independent schools, who choose to participate.

Oberholzer said 93.86% of 624 pupils who completed the advanced programme in English achieved a pass mark of 50% and above, while all pupils who undertook the advanced programme in Afrikaans achieved above 40%.

She said 71 candidates obtained a 100% mark in the Combined Abitur-NSC qualification, which enables pupils to enter German universities.

“The IEB sees its involvement with this qualification as a means of keeping South African pupils in touch with global standards and developments,” she said.

Diocesan School for Girls (DSG) pupils in Makhanda achieved a 100% pass rate, as well as a 100% bachelor’s degree pass, with 37% of all subject symbols being distinctions and 75% of subjects symbols achieved either distinctions or bachelor’s passes.

DSG headmistress Shelley Frayne said three DSG pupils — Emily Morgan, Nina Owen-Jones and Genevieve Powell — had made the IEB Merit list for commendable achievement.

This meant they placed in the top 5% nationally across five subjects and had attained a Level 7 for Life Orientation.

“We are also delighted that DSG girls are mentioned on 11 occasions for being placed in the top 1%.

“The results across the board are exceptional and the entire matric class of 2019 is to be congratulated.

“We are proud of our academic record, which I know can be largely attributed to the strong work ethic among our pupil body, good parental support and a well-trained, committed and dedicated academic staff.”

St Andrew’s College matrics also achieved a 100% pass rate.