Herzlia parents often ask about the benefits of the Department of Education’s National Senior Certificate (NSC) versus the examinations that are written through the Independent Examinations Board (IEB). As a school, we revisit this topic regularly to assess what we think is best for our Herzlia pupils and we share some information below for the year ahead.

There are currently only two South African examinations available to our pupils for Matric:

(1) The National Senior Certificate that is examined by the Department of Education (DBE NSC) :

(2) The National Senior Certificate that is examined by the Independent Examinations Board (IEB NSC).

Some reasons why we have chosen to remain with the Department of Education NSC:

While we review this decision annually, we believe there are excellent reasons to remain committed to the Department of Education’s National Senior certificate (DBE NSC).  Our current academic programme produces excellent Matric results and successful acceptance to the universities of choice – locally and internationally. Our pupils thrive in tertiary institutions based on their years at Herzlia.

We have outlined some of the considerations below. 

1. The first necessary question is the degree to which the qualifications and offerings between the DBE NSC and the IEB differ:  

The qualification: 

There is no distinction between the qualification offered by the Department of Education and by the Independent Examinations Board (IEB). The IEB is often misread as an “international” assessment body, which is not the case. The Department of Education and the IEB both offer the National Senior Certificate that is quality assured through the same accreditation body – The Umalusi Council for Quality Assurance in General and Further Education and Training. 

No distinction is made between the examining bodies by international and local universities. There also is no reference to the examining body on a candidate’s Matric certificate, and the candidates are issued exactly the same Matric certificates. As a result, admission points are counted in the same way by local and international universities. In our experience, the DBE NSC results are somewhat higher than the IEB NSC at the end of Grade 12. This provides a significant advantage to our pupils when applying for university.

The offering:

The IEB and the DBE make use of the same curriculum in subjects that are offered in the Curriculum Assessment Policy Statements (CAPS). The only exceptions to this are the subjects that are not listed by the Department of Education, such as Further Studies English, Further Studies Mathematics and Further Studies Physics as well as non-official languages, like Hebrew. 

In the cases where it is advantageous for our pupils to have exposure to the subjects on offer by the IEB, we offer those subjects through the IEB. We offer IEB Further Studies Programmes in Mathematics and English for pupils from Grade 10 to Matric, and we write the Hebrew examination through the IEB.

A significant misconception is that potentially lower results achieved through the IEB are indicative of a higher level of teaching. This is not the case. Our exit examination does not define how we teach. Our teachers extend our pupils in the classroom, and we have numerous other academic enrichment and extension offerings outside of the classroom. Our pupils benefit from a cutting edge IT Department and Innovation Centre which provides advanced ESTEAM programmes for our pupils, we participate in Tournament of Minds and an array of Olympiads and other national competitions.  We encourage our pupils to be intellectually curious, to work independently and to be critical and creative thinkers.

2. The second necessary question is why stay with the Department of Education? 

These are some of our reasons: 

We are fortunate to be part of the Western Cape Education Department (WCED), which is known for its high standards. We have no complaints around the administration of the WCED examinations and we receive excellent support from the WCED. This is evidenced by the decisions held by other top Independent Schools in the Western Cape to remain with the Department of Education. 

We are fortunate to have a large group of excellent schools in Cape Town who write the DBE NSC. These schools – Bishops, Springfield, Parklands, Rondebosch Boys, Rustenberg Girls and Westerford – place the same emphasis on academics as we do at Herzlia. This allows for strong collaboration around good educational practice. Over the years, we have developed close working relationships with teachers in these schools and benefit from resources and insights shared. 

We have several teachers who are involved with marking and examination setting of the DBE examination. They give meaningful input and gain valuable insights into processes which positively influence the preparation of our pupils. In addition, our teachers contribute to the Provincial and National Education departments by sharing resources and expertise. In this way, we embrace our responsibility to address educational inequality in our country. This speaks to Herzlia’s Menschlichkeit pillar in our awareness and moral responsibility to our country. 

What other curricula are offered in South African schools?

While there are only two South African examinations – the DBE NSC and the IEB NCS, some South African schools offer international curricula:

1. The International Baccalaureate (IB) 
2. The Cambridge Curriculum. 

The International Baccalaureate (IB) undoubtedly provides an exceptional offering that also encourages their pupils to be intellectually curious, to work independently, and to be critical and creative thinkers. Unfortunately, there are very few Cape Town schools offering the IB, which makes opportunities for collaboration and knowledge exchange limited, when our teachers worked extensively with teachers from other schools.

The Cambridge international curriculum, like CAPS, offers clear educational pathways and progression through the different phases of education. The Cambridge International curriculum starts earlier with an early years’ programme for 3+.  The most common options for high school are the Cambridge IGCSE for Grade 10, with AS and A levels that are generally taken over the Grade 11 and Grade 12.

The relationship between international curricula and international tertiary admissions requirements do make these attractive options. It is important to hold in view, however, that the NSC is widely accepted by most international universities. 

International curricula, like these, with higher time demands also need to be viewed in light of our holistic educational philosophy.  It is critical that we do not compromise on our Jewish Life and Learning (JLL) offering, as well as opportunities for leadership, culture and sport. The JLL and extracurricular offerings allow us to grow our children into well rounded people who go out into the world with Jewish values and a commitment to better our world. Extracurricular involvement is also a key consideration for entry to many international universities, so it is important that an international curriculum is not chosen over opportunities for holistic growth. 

In closing, we believe that there are good reasons to remain committed to the DBE National Senior Certificate examination with extension opportunities through the IEB Further Studies courses. 

At Herzlia, we place emphasis on internal standards and practices which exceed the expectations of the external examination. We extend pupils beyond the curriculum in all spheres. We enrich teaching and learning in the classroom and we nurture growth in pupils outside of the classroom.

Please do not hesitate to contact admin@herzlia.com for further queries, or comments.