Grade 3 Language scores increased by 2.9 percentage points compared to 2023, exceeding the 2019 pass rate by 0.5 percentage points.
Cape Town - The Western Cape Education Department’s (WCED) annual systemic test results for 2024 show selected scores surpassing pre-Covid-19 levels.
The pass rates for both Grade 9 Mathematics and Grade 3 Language are now higher than they were in 2019, with the remaining grades and subjects catching up quickly.
The Western Cape is the only province in the country to conduct annual systemic testing in both Mathematics and Language for learners in Grades 3, 6 and 9.
These tests are internationally benchmarked, and are administered, marked, and moderated externally to ensure objectivity and to provide a credible and relevant benchmark for evaluation.
“The pass rate for Grade 9 Mathematics increased by 2.9 percentage points compared to 2023, and now exceeds the 2019 score by 0.7 percentage points,” the WCED said.
“We also saw an increase of 4.3 percentage points for Grade 3 Mathematics, and 1.1 percentage points for Grade 6 Mathematics, compared to 2023. While the scores for these grades have not yet reached 2019 levels, the scores this year are nonetheless significantly higher than in 2021.”
Grade 3 Language scores increased by 2.9 percentage points compared to 2023, exceeding the 2019 pass rate by 0.5 percentage points.
The pass rate for Grade 6 Language has increased by 4.0 percentage points compared to 2023, reducing the difference with 2019 scores to just 1.3 percentage points.
“Unfortunately, we have seen a decline in our Grade 9 Language scores, of 2.8 percentage points compared to 2023. Our officials will be looking into this result in detail in order to put remedial plans in place.”
Schools will now receive individual school reports, to help them develop a tailored approach by identifying gaps in learning unique to their school’s circumstances.
The results will also be provided to curriculum officials, including those leading the #BackOnTrack programme interventions.
A key part of the #BackOnTrack programme is ensuring that interventions are refined over time to focus on the interventions that work and are sustainable.
“We will use the new data to analyse where we need to direct the programme’s resources, and supplement the findings of the recent Stellenbosch University report on the effectiveness of our interventions.
“We thank all the school staff, officials, tutors and learners who have worked so hard to improve learning outcomes over the past year, and look forward to their support as we strive to give our children a better future in the Western Cape,” said the WCED.
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