Schools record 100% matric pass rate
Top East London and Makhanda independent schools posted impressive matric results for 2018, with each school clocking a 100% pass rate and dozens of subject distinctions from their pupils.
Pupils from Kingswood College, St Andrews College, and Diocesan School for Girls (DSG) in Makhanda and Merrifield College in East London aced their Independent Examination Board (IEB) final exams.
DSG punched way above its weight with its 86 pupils scoring 230 subject distinctions between them. Eighty-five of the girls qualified to study for a degree and one for a diploma.
The school said in a press statement that its Dux scholar, Nicola Ralston, from Port Elizabeth scored a full-house of seven distinctions and made the IEB Merit list for Outstanding Achievement. She was one of just 61 pupils out of over 11,000 that sat the exams nationally that made the list.
She is placed in the top 5% nationally across six subjects. She was the only Eastern Cape pupil to make the list.
Caroline Shuter from Johannesburg also achieved seven distinctions and was placed in the top 1% nationally in three subjects: geography, life sciences and mathematics
Emma Brockwell from Bedford, and Caroline Cotton and Avia Repapis from Makhanda also achieved seven distinctions.
The 44 matric pupils at Merrifield College in East London received a 100% university exemption rate with 55% achieving an average of over 70% with 23% of the averages being over 80%. The school’s top achievers were Jeffin Thomas and Lithalelanga Chimusoro, who each achieved a full house of seven distinctions each.
Leah Schewitz and Ann-Sophie Kaiser achieved six distinctions each.
St Andrews College’s 103 matric pupils scored a total of 153 subject distinctions, said the school in a press statement. An impressive 96% qualified to study for a degree.
Top achiever Daniel Erasmus, from Port Elizabeth, achieved eight distinctions.
He was also placed in the top 1% of all the IEB candidates who wrote accounting, mathematics and physical science. In addition, he made the IEB’s Commendable List for candidates who achieved results in the top 5% in five subjects.
Both Jonathan Gouws and Peter Jarvis from Makhanda also achieved a full house of seven IEB distinctions.
Kingswood College’s 77strong matric class of 2018 garnered 138 distinctions for the school. The school said its deputy head girl for 2018, Tami Labuschagne from Somerset West, achieved an 88% overall average and seven subject distinctions. Danielle Griesel, from Port Alfred achieved an overall average of 87%, also with a distinction in all seven subjects
IEB CEO Anne Oberholzer revealed on Wednesday that 98.92% of the 11,514 full-time and 858 part-time candidates who sat for the IEB National Senior Certificate had passed.
This represented a small improvement on the 2017 pass rate of 98.76%.