Matric exams begin next week: Full timetable
The 2024 matric exams are scheduled to start next week on Monday, 21 October 2024, with the first exam being English Paper 3.
The 2024 National Senior Certificate (NSC) or matric exams are set to commence next Monday, 21 October 2024, and conclude on 27 November 2024. In total, there will be 123 exam papers written before the exams conclude on Wednesday, 27 November 2024.
Matric exams schedules
Following is a look at the timetable for the most common subjects:
October 2024
| Subject and duration | Date | Time |
| English Paper 3: HL (3 hrs) FAL (2½ hrs) SAL (2½ hrs) | 21 October | 09:00 |
| Afrikaans Paper 3: HL (3 hrs) FAL (2½ hrs) SAL (2½ hrs) | 21 October | 14:00 |
| Business Studies Paper 1 (2 hrs) | 23 October | 09:00 |
| Information Technology Paper 1 (3 hrs) | 23 October | 14:00 |
| isiZulu, isiXhosa, siSwati, and isiNdebele Paper 3: HL (3 hrs) FAL (2½ hrs) SAL (2½ hrs) | 24 October | 09:00 |
| Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, Xitsonga, and Tshivenda Paper 3: HL (3 hrs) FAL (2½ hrs) SAL (2½ hrs) | 25 October | 09:00 |
| English Paper 1: HL (2 hrs) FAL (2 hrs) SAL (2 hrs) | 28 October | 09:00 |
| History Paper 1 (3 hrs) | 29 October | 09:00 |
| isiZulu, isiXhosa, siSwati, and isiNdebele Paper 1: HL (2 hrs) FAL (2 hrs) SAL (2 hrs) | 30 October | 09:00 |
| Business Studies Paper 2 (2 hrs) | 30 October | 14:00 |
From the Department of Basic Education
November 2024
| Subject and duration | Date | Time |
| Mathematics Paper 1 (3 hrs) Mathematical Literacy Paper 1 (3 hrs) Technical Mathematics Paper 1 (3 hrs) | 01 November | 09:00 |
| Mathematics Paper 2 (3 hrs) Mathematical Literacy Paper 2 (3 hrs) Technical Mathematics Paper 2 (3 hrs) | 04 November | 09:00 |
| Geography Paper 1 (3 hrs) | 05 November | 09:00 |
| Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, Xitsonga, and Tshivenda Paper 1: HL (2 hrs) FAL (2 hrs) SAL (2 hrs) | 06 November | 09:00 |
| Information Technology Paper 2 (3 hrs) | 06 November | 14:00 |
| History Paper 2 (3 hrs) | 07 November | 09:00 |
| Physical Sciences Paper 1 (3 hrs) Technical Sciences Paper 1 (3 hrs) | 08 November | 09:00 |
| Physical Sciences Paper 2 (3 hrs) Technical Sciences Paper 2 (1½ hrs) | 11 November | 09:00 |
| isiZulu, isiXhosa, siSwati, and isiNdebele Paper 2: HL (2½ hrs) FAL (2½ hrs) SAL (1½ hrs) | 12 November | 09:00 |
| Economics Paper 1 (2 hrs) | 12 November | 14:00 |
| English Paper 2: HL (2½ hrs) FAL (2½ hrs) SAL (1½ hrs) | 13 November | 09:00 |
| Accounting Paper 1 (2 hrs) | 14 November | 09:00 |
| Life Sciences Paper 1 (2½ hrs) | 15 November | 09:00 |
| Life Sciences Paper 2 (2½ hrs) | 18 November | 09:00 |
| Afrikaans Paper 1: HL (2 hrs) FAL (2 hrs) SAL (2 hrs) | 19 November | 09:00 |
| Economics Paper 2 (2 hrs) | 19 November | 14:00 |
| Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, Xitsonga, and Tshivenda Paper 2: HL (2½ hrs) FAL (2½ hrs) SAL (1½ hrs) | 20 November | 09:00 |
| Geography Paper 2 (3 hrs) | 21 November | 09:00 |
| Accounting Paper 2 (2 hrs) | 22 November | 09:00 |
| Afrikaans Paper 2: HL (2½ hrs) FAL (2½ hrs) SAL (1½ hrs) | 25 November | 09:00 |
From the Department of Basic Education
For the complete examination timetable, click here.
Marking and results
Markedly, the exams will be administered at 474 exam locations, monitored by 1 809 invigilators, as reported by capetownetc.
Markers will mark the papers between 2 and 12 December 2024 and afterwards, the marked scripts will be quality checked by mark-checkers.
At the present time, the plan is that the national matric exams results will be announced on 15 January 2025, with individual candidate results accessible at schools or online the next day.