Motshekga said 36.4% of candidates achieved a bachelor’s pass, compared to 36.9% in 2019. She said 26% achieved a diploma pass, 13.7% a higher certificate and 0.01% or 61 candidates a National Senior Certificate pass. At least 76.7% of boys passed compared to 75.8% of girls, but Motshekga said more girls achieved bachelor and diploma passes than boys. More than 24,000 of the 65,000 progressed pupils who sat for the exams passed and these included more than 3,000 who achieved a bachelor’s pass. Progressed pupils refers to those who were progressed into grade 12 despite failing grade 11. These pupils bagged 1,655 distinctions. A total of 2,058 of the 2,161 special-needs pupils who sat for the exams passed, including 943 who had a bachelor’s pass. The special-needs pupils produced 563 distinctions.