At UCT Online High School, only learners who meet their required learning hours are counted as having attended UCT Online High School, and are therefore reflected in our matric cohort pass mark. South African regulation states that learners in Senior (Gr 8 & 9) and FET (G10 - 12) should be spending a minimum of 27.5 hours a week engaged in learning. 

In 2024, learners who met the required engagement hours and fulfilled the minimum attendance requirements achieved an 80% pass rate. 

We have also conducted further analysis of the 2024 matric results which continue to validate our approach to teaching and learning at UCT Online High School. Some of our key findings were:

• Learners who completed their entire FET phase (Grade 10, 11 and 12) with UCT Online High School had a higher pass rate. 
• The final papers written by learners were of a similar standard to those learners wrote for preliminary examinations. 
• Marking guides used for final examinations were consistent, fair and made allowances for alternative answers. 
• Learners who had high formal assessment marks but low engagement were more likely to see a significant gap between their School Based Assessment marks and their final exam results. 
• Learners who engaged with their Online Campus content and attended their live academic session were better prepared than learners who did not make use of these opportunities. 

Top Performers

• Every learner deserves recognition for their efforts, and we celebrate their achievements. Two exceptional individuals stand out: Hanna Olla was placed in the SACAI national top 3 learners with 6 distinctions. 
• Mahlori Ngobeni was the top achiever in Physical Science for the SACAI 2024 national cohort with 99% for his final mark. He has been accepted to study Actuarial Science at UCT. 

Engagements with the South African Comprehensive Assessment Institute SACAI

As part of our continued commitment to all UCT Online High School families, we also engaged directly with our examination body around concerns raised by families and we advocated for a remark of a group of learners who narrowly missed achieving a passing grade. Our engagements with SACAI were constructive and we appreciate the commitment from our examination body to transparency and collaboration.  

Enhancements at UCT Online High School

At UCT Online High School we want to ensure that we continue to make appropriate updates to our school for the benefit of our learners. In 2025 we have already done the following:

• Updated our proctoring/invigilation approach to ensure more stringent monitoring of Cycle Tests and Examinations as we are concerned by the rise in inappropriate AI usage to complete formal assessments.
• Established the School Assessment Irregularity Committee whose mandate is to investigate any reported assessment irregularity and to, where necessary, impose disciplinary sanctions. 

From the start of Term 2 (7 April 2025) the following will also apply to all learners at UCT Online High School.

• All learners across the school will be required to meet the minimum number of learning hours of 27.5 hours per week, in alignment with the benchmark set by the Department of Basic Education. Learners who have a legitimate reason for not being able to meet these minimum engagement requirements, for example due to ill health or a family emergency, will be able to apply for a Leave of Absence.
• This will be tracked weekly and reported on in termly reports.
• Learners who fail to meet minimum engagement requirements will be subject to disciplinary action. 
• Learners who miss more than the equivalent of 20 days of school, or 110 learning hours, will risk being retained in their current grade regardless of academic performance. 
• Learners who have high formal assessment results but low engagement will be flagged for further investigation. 

We believe that these updates are vital to ensuring that all our learners are set up for academic success at UCT Online High School.

Finally, we continue to stand proudly by our commitment to making quality education accessible by not setting academic barriers to enrollment, nor preventing Grade 11s from enrolling in Grade 12 to boost our academic results. UCT Online High School is one of the few schools in the country that allow Grade 12 learners to register with us at the start of their Matric year. Because of this, UCT Online High School serves a unique profile of families, from across all Provinces, and from far more diverse circumstances, than a traditional school. We strongly believe that every learner who wants to write their National Senior Certificate should have the opportunity and support to do so and will continue to stand by this commitment.