Government22.02.2021

How to get the 2020 matric results

Matric certificate

Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga will announce the 2020 national examination results on Monday 22 February 2021.

The matric examinations started on 5 November 2020 and the final papers were written on 15 December 2020.

The later start, the Basic Education Department said, allowed schools and learners adequate time to cover the curriculum.

Marking of the 2020 matric exams started on 4 January 2021 and involved 45,000 matric exam markers, 216 question papers, and over 10 million scripts.

Umalusi, the quality council for general and further education and training, approved the release of the matric results on 15 February 2021.

Umalusi CEO Mafu Rakometsi said the 2020 academic year will go down as the most challenging since the dawn of democracy in South Africa.

Despite these challenges, Umalusi said there has been a marked improvement in the overall quality of question papers submitted this year.

While Motshekga will unveil an overview of the matric results on Monday, learners will only receive their individual results on Tuesday 23 February.

There are many ways for learners who wrote their matric exams last year to get their results, which include SMSes, online portals, and using a mobile app.

The first and easiest option is for learners to get their statements of results on 23 February 2021 from their school or centre where they wrote the exams.

For those who are not keen to travel to their school, they can use the methods listed below.


The Department of Basic Education website (link here)

Candidates’ partial results will be made available on the Department of Basic Education website.

To get their results, learners have to visit the Department of Basic Education website and register using their examination details.

This can be done by visiting the 2020 NSC exam results page and entering their examination number.

The results will then appear on the screen and they can download and print them.

Department of education


News24 Matric Results Portal (link here)

News24 has partnered with the Department of Basic Education (DBE) and the Independent Examinations Board (IEB) to bring the matric results to learners.

Students who wrote the Department of Basic Education’s National Senior Certificate (NSC) can search for their results using their examination number, or by searching for their school name and then selecting their examination number.

These results will be available on the matric site on Tuesday 23 February 2021, excluding the Western Cape. NSC results for the Western Cape will be released shortly afterwards.

News24 Matric Results


Sowetan Live matric portal (link here)

The Sowetan Live matric portal offers learners a pre-registration service to receive their results when they are released.

The Sowetan Live matric results website uses data provided by the Department of Basic Education and the Independent Examinations Board.

National Senior Certificate pupils can register on the website until 22 February 2021 to receive notifications about results releases.

Sowetan Live matric results


Matric results via SMS

Learners can receive their 2020 matric results by SMSing their exam number to 45856.

The system will verify their exam number and provide them with their results.

The price per SMS is R1.50 and free SMSes do not apply.


Matric results via USSD

Learners can also receive their matric results by using the USSD code *120*45856# and entering their exam number to register.

The learner’s matric results will then be sent to their phone once they are available.

The USSD service will be charged R1.50 per minute.


MatricsMate App for Android and iOS

SABC Education and the Department of Basic Education joined forces to launch the MatricsMate app, which is available on the Google Play and Apple App Stores.

This app makes it easy for learners to receive their matric results as soon as they become publicly available.

Registered users are also getting access to different opportunities to help further their studies and careers.

MatricsMate App


Daily newspapers

The 2020 matric results will be published in most of South Africa’s major daily newspapers on 23 February 2021.

To find their results, users will have to know their exam number (learners’ exam numbers will be published instead of their names).

Matric Results


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