Umalusi says both public and private assessment bodies are ready to conduct, administer, and manage the 2025 end-of-year national examinations.
The quality assurance council, established under the General and Further Education and Training Quality Assurance Act, conducted an audit from 11 August to 9 October 2025 across all nine provinces to assess the preparedness of the Department of Basic Education (DBE), the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), and private assessment bodies — the Independent Examinations Board (IEB) and the South African Comprehensive Assessment Institute (SACAI).
Speaking during a press briefing in Pretoria, on Wednesday Dr Mary-Ntoinette Dliwayo, Umalusi’s Senior Manager for Quality Assurance of Assessment, said the audit confirmed that the examination system is ready and measures are in place to ensure credible results.
“Umalusi is satisfied that all registered candidates meet the requirements to sit for the 2025 examinations. Security, administrative and quality control systems are functioning well across all assessment bodies to guarantee credible and fair outcomes,” said Dr Dliwayo.
Over One Million Candidates to Write
The audit revealed that over one million candidates are registered to write this year’s national examinations.
- The DBE accounts for the largest share, with 766,543 full-time learners, excluding 137,018 part-time candidates rewriting to improve results.
- The DHET has 469,231 candidates enrolled across its various qualifications, including the National Certificate (Vocational) and NATED Report 190/191 programmes.
- The IEB and SACAI have 50,829 and 17,896 registered candidates respectively.
Together, the examinations will be written at about 9,400 centres nationwide.
Programme Changes and Final Preparations
Umalusi also highlighted recent policy shifts. The NC(V) Levels 2 and 3 examinations have been internalised and are no longer under Umalusi’s quality assurance, while the NATED Report 191 N1–N3 programmes are being phased out. The October/November 2025 exams will be the last N3 exams certified by Umalusi.
The DHET is finalising registration data for the remaining N3 candidates by 28 October 2025.
Public and Private Systems Ready
Umalusi’s audit found both public and private assessment bodies adequately prepared, though the public sector faces greater logistical complexity due to scale.
Dr Dliwayo said Umalusi remains confident that all systems are in place to ensure “a smooth and credible 2025 examination season for all learners across the country.”
