The Department of Basic Education has announced the 2025 National Senior Certificate results, confirming a national pass rate of 88%. Over the coming days, this number has been used to declare success, signal crisis and frame political messaging.
But on its own, it does not tell the full story. The Class of 2025 wrote exams in a country where public schooling is asked to do the heavy lifting of inequality every day. They studied through rising living costs, sporadic power outages and the long shadow of COVID learning losses. Yet they showed up and many passed. Lasting success, however, depends on more than learner determination; it depends on strong school leadership.
Citizen Leader Lab partners with school leaders across South Africa to strengthen the kind of leadership that keeps learning possible in difficult contexts. ‘’Year after year, we see that school leadership is that unglamorous variable. It’s the daily decisions of leaders that determine whether learners succeed. When leaders are supported, schools function as communities. Leadership doesn’t erase socio-economic challenges, but it channels hope into structure,’’ says Komala Pillay, CEO of Citizen Leader Lab.
That hope exists alongside a hard truth: There is nothing romantic about the work of school leaders in under-resourced communities. They often negotiate with gangs one day and with district offices the next. They straddle policy ambition and classroom reality. When they are given the tools to lead, not just manage, things can move. “South Africa loves heroic narratives. This is not that. This is about capable, conscious school leaders building schools that work. And that, in this country, is radical,” Pillay says.
The human side
Just two years ago, Crestway High in Retreat, Cape Town, posted a 35.9% matric pass rate. By 2024 it had climbed to 66%, and now the Class of 2025 has surpassed 80%, achieving 84.5% — a turnaround driven as much by leadership as by collective effort.
At the centre of this change is principal Cheryl Jacobs, appointed in November 2023 after more than 30 years at the school and nine years as deputy principal. When she took over, the school had been declared underperforming, and she has spoken openly about how that affected her. “For a long time, I carried shame about our results,” she said.
Soon after her appointment, Jacobs joined Citizen Leader Lab’s Leaders for Education programme, which she says helped shift her from a “victimhood to action’’ mindset. She describes gaining confidence in working with parents and the broader community and stresses the importance of collaboration among staff and partners. She believes the programme has significantly contributed to Crestway’s upward academic trajectory.
“This turnaround comes from my improved leadership, consistency and a community that refused to give up,” Jacobs says.
Support also came from Professor Jonathan Jansen, Distinguished Professor of Education at Stellenbosch University, who offered assistance when Crestway was identified as a struggling school. A long-time supporter of Citizen Leader Lab’s work, he has repeatedly praised Jacobs’ leadership, saying he saw not a failing school but “a school full of potential if given the right leadership and support.”
Comparing 2024 and 2025 matric results, Citizen Leader Lab partner schools across the country recorded consistent gains in multiple provinces. In Limpopo, partner schools in Lephalale moved from pass rates in the 60–70% range into the high 80s and low 90s, with top performers exceeding 93%. Free State schools in Mangaung, Botshabelo and Parys sustained strong performance, with several achieving pass rates above 90%, including 100% pass rates.
KwaZulu-Natal schools across Durban, Umlazi, Ntuzuma and Umbumbulu recorded clear year-on-year improvement, with pass rates ranging between 90% and 100%. In Gauteng, schools in Johannesburg, Tshwane and Hammanskraal also posted steady gains, with a growing number now performing above the 80% benchmark.
Overall, many schools recorded year-on-year gains, with increasing numbers surpassing both the national average and the 80% pass-rate threshold, reflecting the impact of strengthened school leadership.
As tertiary education placements begin, Citizen Leader Lab will continue its focus on school leadership development. ‘’We invite business leaders and funders into this work before next year’s headlines, not after them. If we want to change the numbers, we must change the conditions that produce them. School leaders are not peripheral to that task. They are central,’’ Pillay concludes.