2022 Matric Exam Dates

by Staff Reporter

The 2022 matric exam dates have been released. This time of year can be both incredibly exciting and stressful, as your last year of schooling draws to a close. There’s only one last hurdle standing in your way—final exams.

With matric exams looming ahead, it’s time to focus and study hard if you want to get into the tertiary institution of your dreams.

To help you survive matric finals, we tracked down all the scheduled dates for the national senior certificate (NSC) and independent exam board (IEB) exams. 

Note that the following dates are subject to change, with any updates being provided by the Education Department or your school.

2022 National Matric Exam Dates

The Department of Education has released the dates for the 2022 matric exams, which are set to start on Monday, 31 October and will finish on Friday, 9 December 2022. The matric exams are starting later than in previous years to ensure that matriculants have enough time for learning and teaching.

The exam dates exclude the written matric final exams for Life Orientation (LO), and the practical exams for Computer Application Technology (CAT), Information Technology (IT), Performing Arts, and Visual Arts and Design, which will take place earlier.

matric exams 2022

The NSC matric final exam timetable for 2022 is as follows:

2022 Matric Exam Dates

Key:

Home Language = HL
First Additional Language = FAL
Second Additional Language = SAL

Monday, 31 October 2022 

Paper 1

  • English Home Language (HL, FAL)
  • Hebrew Second Additional Language (SAL)
  • German (HL)
  • German (SAL)

Tuesday, 1 November 2022

Paper 1

  • Economics
  • Arabic (HL, FAL, SAL)
  • French (HL, FAL, SAL)
  • Italian (HL, FAL, SAL)
  • Mandarin (HL, FAL, SAL)
  • Modern Greek (HL, FAL, SAL)
  • Serbian (HL, FAL, SAL)
  • Spanish (HL, FAL, SAL)
  • Latin (SAL)
  • Portuguese (HL, FAL, SAL)

Wednesday, 2 November 2022

Paper 1

  • Afrikaans (HL, FAL)

Paper 2

  • Hindi (HL, FAL)
  • Gujarati (HL, FAL)
  • Tamil (HL, FAL)
  • Telegu (HL, FAL)
  • Urdu (HL, FAL)
  • Hebrew (SAL) 

Thursday, 3 November 2022

Paper 1

  • History
  • Engineering Graphics and Design

Friday, 4 November 2022

Paper 1

  • Mathematics
  • Mathematical Literacy
  • Technical Mathematics

Paper 2

  • Arabic (HL, FAL, SAL)
  • French (HL, FAL, SAL)
  • Italian (HL, FAL, SAL)
  • Mandarin (HL, FAL, SAL)
  • Modern Greek (HL, FAL, SAL)
  • Serbian (HL, FAL, SAL)
  • Spanish (HL, FAL, SAL)
  • Latin (SAL)
  • Portuguese (HL, FAL, SAL)

Key:

Home Language = HL
First Additional Language = FAL
Second Additional Language = SAL

Monday, 14 November 2022 

Paper 2

  • Physical Sciences (Chemistry)
  • Technical Sciences
  • Religion Studies

Tuesday, 15 November 2022

Paper 1

  • Geography (Climate and Weather, Geomorphology and Mapwork)
  • Dance Studies

Wednesday, 16 November 2022

Paper 1

  • Accounting

Paper 2

  • Engineering Graphics and Design

Thursday, 17 November 2022

Paper 1

  • English (HL, FAL)
  • Civil Technology

Friday, 18 November 2022

Paper 1

  • Life Sciences
  • Visual Arts

Key:

Home Language = HL
First Additional Language = FAL
Second Additional Language = SAL

Monday, 28 November 2022 

Paper 2

  • Agricultural Science
  • Natural Science

Paper 3

  • isiZulu (HL, FAL, SAL)
  • isiXhosa (HL, FAL, SAL)
  • Siswati (HL, FAL, SAL)
  • isiNbedele (HL, FAL, SAL)

Tuesday, 29 November 2022

Paper 2

  • Business Studies
  • Marine Sciences

Paper 3

  • Sepedi (HL, FAL, SAL)
  • Sesotho (HL, FAL, SAL)
  • Setswana (HL, FAL, SAL)
  • Xitsonga (HL, FAL, SAL)
  • Tshivenda (HL, FAL, SAL)
  • South African Sign Languages

Wednesday, 30 November 2022

Paper 3

  • English (HL, FAL)
  • Mechanical Technology

Thursday, 1 December 2022

  • Consumer Studies
  • Hospitality Studies
  • Design

Friday, 2 December 2022

Paper 3

  • Afrikaans (HL, FAL, SAL)
  • Agricultural Management Practices

Key:

Home Language = HL
First Additional Language = FAL
Second Additional Language = SAL

Monday, 7 November 2022 

Paper 2

  • Mathematics 
  • Mathematical Literacy
  • Technical Mathematics

Paper 3

  • Hindi (HL, FAL)
  • Gujarati (HL, FAL)
  • Tamil (HL, FAL)
  • Telegu (HL, FAL)
  • Urdu (HL, FAL)
  • German (HL, SAL)

Tuesday, 8 November 2022

Paper 1

  • isiZulu (HL, FAL, SAL)
  • isiXhosa (HL, FAL, SAL)
  • Siswati (HL, FAL, SAL)
  • isiNbedele (HL, FAL, SAL)

Paper 2

  • Economics
  • Maritime Economics

Wednesday, 2 November 2022

Paper 1

  • Sepedi (HL, FAL, SAL)
  • Sesotho (HL, FAL, SAL)
  • Setswana (HL, FAL, SAL)
  • Xitsonga (HL, FAL, SAL)
  • Tshivenda (HL, FAL, SAL)

Paper 2

  • Computer Applications Technology (theory)

Thursday, 10 November 2022

Paper 1

  • South African Sign Language

Paper 2

  • History
  • Information Technology

Friday, 11 November 2022

Paper 1

  • Physical Sciences
  • Technical Sciences
  • Religion Studies

Key:

Home Language = HL
First Additional Language = FAL
Second Additional Language = SAL

Monday, 21 November 2022 

Paper 2

  • Life Sciences
  • Electrical Technology

Tuesday, 22 November 2022

Paper 2

  • Sepedi (HL, FAL, SAL)
  • Sesotho (HL, FAL, SAL)
  • Setswana (HL, FAL, SAL)
  • Xitsonga (HL, FAL, SAL)
  • Tshivenda (HL, FAL, SAL)
  • Geography (Rural and Urban Settlement, Economic Geomorphology of South Africa and Mapwork)

Wednesday, 23 November 2022

Paper 1

  • Business Studies
  • Marine Sciences

Paper 2

  • isiZulu (HL, FAL, SAL)
  • isiXhosa (HL, FAL, SAL)
  • Siswati (HL, FAL, SAL)
  • isiNbedele (HL, FAL, SAL)

Thursday, 24 November 2022

Paper 2

  • Afrikaans (HL, FAL, SAL)
  • Tourism

Friday, 25 November 2022

Paper 1

  • Agricultural Sciences
  • Nautical Science
  • Sport and Exercise Science

Paper 2

  • Accounting

Monday, 5 December 2022 

Paper 1

  • Music Theory

Paper 2

  • South African Sign Language
  • Music Comprehension

Tuesday, 6 December 2022

  • Dramatic Arts
  • Agricultural Technology

Wednesday, 7 December 2022

Rewrite

  • Computer Application Technology (CAT) Practical
  • Information Technology (IT) Practical
learner writing matric exam

2022 IEB Matric Exam Dates

The IEB matric exam dates are slightly different than the NSC matric exam dates. Grade 12 learners already started their final exams on Tuesday, 13 September and will finish on Tuesday, 29 November.

You can view the full IEB matric timetable on the IEB website, or retrieve the one that’s available at your school. Additionally, you can contact the Independent Schools Association of South Africa (ISASA) on 011 648 1331.

Start preparing for exams and life after school!

During the next few months, you are going to need to plan for life after school. If you want to study further, stay on top of your matric results and make sure you choose the right institution. Then, if you need further help with funding, we can help! 

Are you wanting to apply for a student loan? Try our Fundi loan calculator to see if you meet all the requirements!

We are wishing you the best of luck with your matric exams!

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