Matric results 2026: release date, how to check your NSC results, and re-marks

The 2026 National Senior Certificate examinations run from 13 October to 26 November 2026. That much is certain. What is not yet certain is the date the results come out - and this page will keep saying “not yet announced” until the Department of Basic Education publishes it, because inventing a plausible January date would be the least useful thing we could do.

The examination window

Date	What happens
Tue 13 October 2026	Examinations begin
Fri 23 October 2026	Mathematics Paper 1 and Mathematical Literacy Paper 1
Mon 26 October 2026	Mathematics Paper 2 and Mathematical Literacy Paper 2
Wed 28 October 2026	English Home Language, FAL and SAL Paper 1
Fri 30 October 2026	Physical Sciences Paper 1 and Technical Sciences Paper 1
Tue 3 – Thu 5 November 2026	Non-examination days
Thu 26 November 2026	Examinations end
Not yet announced	Results release
Not yet announced	Re-mark and re-check window

The matric results countdown shows the days remaining against each of these dates, and states “date not yet announced” for the ones officials have not set.

How results are actually released

Marking happens at provincial marking centres; scripts are moderated; the results are standardised and then approved before the Minister announces the national pass rate. Only after that are individual results released.

Candidates then get results through the official channels:

• Your school - the traditional route, and still the most reliable for most candidates.
• Provincial education departments - each province publishes its own guidance on when and how results are available.
• The departmental online result service - needs an examination number and follows the department’s own process, not a third party’s.

After results: the window that closes fast

The re-mark, re-check and script-viewing process is the part candidates most often miss, because it opens during the holidays and closes quickly.

1. Decide which papers you would query before results day. A candidate who is considering a re-mark of a specific paper loses days deciding after the fact.
2. Find your province’s fee schedule. Fees differ between re-mark, re-check and script viewing, and are charged per paper.
3. Apply within the window, through the provincial education department or the school’s matric office, and keep the receipt and reference number.
4. Expect a result change to be rare but real. Re-checks catch administrative errors; re-marks can move a mark up or down.

Candidates who need a result to secure a university place should also check whether their chosen institution accepts a pending re-mark outcome, and by when.

What comes next after matric

Even before results arrive, the year ahead has dates that matter: 2027 school terms begin on 13 January 2027, most public universities’ 2027 application windows closed on 30 September 2026, and NSFAS 2027 applications opened on 18 September 2026 with closing dates that officials have published differently in different places - we record both.

Last reviewed 13 October 2026. Results-release and re-mark dates will be added here the day they are published; until then, this page states clearly that they are unannounced.