NSC Subjects

The list of NSC Subjects are Accounting, Agricultural Sciences, Business Studies, Dramatic Arts, Economics, Engineering Graphics and Design, Geography, History, Consumer Studies, Information Technology, Languages. Find all the NSC subject list below:

NSC Subjects to be offered

The subjects listed below which are part of the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement of the National Senior Certificate, will be offered as part of the amended Senior Certificate. The subjects will in essence be the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements of the National Senior Certificate, excluding the School-Based Assessment (SBA) component.

Each candidate must offer six subjects in order to qualify for the Senior Certificate (as amended). Adults who have approved Senior Certificate subject credits, but do not comply with the required six-subject package, must select the remaining required subjects from the following list of 34 adapted National Senior Certificate subjects:

Table A: Official languages at Home and First Additional level

Table B1: Agriculture

Table B2: Business, Commerce and Management Studies

Table B3: Human and Social Studies

Table B4: Physical, Mathematical, Computer and Life Sciences

The Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements for the above-listed Senior Certificate subjects are available here.

Subjects to be recognized

Senior Certificate subjects credits that were passed prior to June 2015, at Higher Grade and Standard Grade levels, excluding Lower Grade conversions, will be recognized.

With the exception of Business English N3, Second Language, and/or Sakeafrikaans N3, Second Language, no N3 subjects will be recognised.

In the case of learners, who have attempted the National Senior Certificate examination, but were unable to complete all the subject requirements, such candidates will have all their previous credits recognised.

Examinations

Candidates that qualify to write the Senior Certificate examination will write the examination in May/June 2026. Candidates writing the Senior Certificate will be exempt from School Based Assessment, and this implies that the examination in the subject will constitute 100% of the final mark.

Examinations will be administered at designated examination centres determined by the Provincial Education Department. The examination may also be offered by the independent assessment bodies accredited by Umalusi.

Promotion requirements 

A Senior Certificate will be achieved by an adult candidate who satisfies the following requirements in these examinations:

1. Pass three subjects at 40%, one of which must be an official language at Home Language level.
2. Pass two subjects at 30%, one of which must be an official language at First Additional or Home Language level.
3. Obtain a subminimum of 20% in the sixth subject.

How many subjects are there in NSC?

A learner must offer a minimum of seven subjects. The approved subjects for the NSC Grades 10 – 12 (General) are grouped in two main categories, namely Group A (A1, A2 and A3) and Group B (B1 to B7 and Other Subjects).