When the Class of 2025 matric results were released, Orange Farm schools quietly delivered one of the most important education outcomes in Gauteng not because every school reached 100%, but because large numbers of learners stayed in school, wrote matric, and passed in a community where this has never been guaranteed.
Orange Farm falls under Johannesburg South District (D11), which presented just under 4 700 full-time matric candidates for the 2025 National Senior Certificate examinations. Of those learners, more than 4 680 passed, placing the district among the strongest performers in the province. While the Department of Basic Education does not publish learner counts per individual school, Orange Farm schools make up a significant share of this total, with most local secondary schools entering between 120 and 300 learners each year.
This scale is critical to understanding the results. At Thetha Secondary, a 98.9% pass rate translates into nearly an entire cohort passing matric. Leshata Secondary’s 98.3% and Thamsanqa Secondary’s 95.4% results similarly represent well over 100 learners per school completing Grade 12 successfully. Even schools with pass rates in the 80s, such as Orange Farm Secondary (84.1%) and Qoqa Secondary (84.5%), still enabled dozens of young people to leave school with a recognised qualification.
In Orange Farm, this matters because schooling does not happen in isolation. According to the Funda Uphumelele National Survey, fewer than half of South African households have access to books beyond school textbooks, and many learners study in homes where adults themselves did not complete matric. The survey shows that community-level learning support, peer study, and school-based intervention play a decisive role in whether learners persist through to Grade 12.
That reality is reflected in Orange Farm schools’ performance. District-level subject data shows that Johannesburg South achieved near-universal passes in English First Additional Language, with History and Geography also passing above 90%. In practical terms, this means that almost every Orange Farm learner who wrote matric was able to pass their language subject, a key predictor of overall success, especially in large cohorts.
The Funda Uphumelele findings help explain why this matters. The survey shows that learners who develop strong reading comprehension and language confidence are significantly more likely to pass multiple subjects, even when resources are limited. In Orange Farm, sustained emphasis on reading, writing, and comprehension across grades has helped stabilise results and prevent widespread failure.
Subject choice has also played a role. Mathematical Literacy recorded a strong district-level pass rate, enabling many learners to meet the requirements for Bachelor’s Degrees, TVET colleges, teaching diplomas and entry-level public-sector training. In a community where immediate access to work or further study is often essential, this pathway has helped keep learners in school rather than pushing them out through high-risk subject combinations.
At the same time, the challenges are clear. Mathematics and Physical Sciences remain the subjects where Orange Farm schools struggle most. District data shows that Mathematics passed at just over 60%, and Physical Sciences in the low 70s. In large schools, even a small number of failures in these subjects can significantly pull down the overall pass rate.
The Funda Uphumelele National Survey highlights that numeracy gaps begin early, often before learners reach high school, and are compounded by overcrowded classrooms and limited individual support. This helps explain why schools such as Raphela Secondary, Aha Thuto Secondary, and Vulanindlela Secondary hover just below the 80% mark not because learners are disengaged, but because structural constraints remain unresolved.
Independent schools in Orange Farm, including Imbali Combined School and Vutomi High School, achieved 100% pass rates in 2025. However, these schools typically enter much smaller cohorts, often fewer than 30 learners, allowing for close monitoring and rapid intervention. Their results demonstrate what is possible under different conditions, but they also underline why raw pass rates alone cannot be the sole measure of success in public schooling contexts like Orange Farm.
Perhaps the most important figure is not the percentage at all, but retention. In a community facing unemployment, household instability, and economic pressure, Orange Farm schools succeeded in keeping thousands of learners in the system until matric, and ensuring that the overwhelming majority passed.
The 2025 results show that Orange Farm schools are not merely surviving, they are holding the line, using practical strategies to move large numbers of learners across the matric finish line. The data points to clear solutions: protect and strengthen language learning, expand Maths and Science support without penalising schools for offering them, and measure success by how many learners complete school, not only by headline percentages.
In Orange Farm, the Class of 2025 is proof that when schools, families, and communities pull in the same direction, progress is possible even under pressure.
Editor’s Note: The Department of Basic Education does not publish public, school-by-school learner counts or subject breakdowns. Learner numbers in this article are based on official Johannesburg South district data and applied to Orange Farm schools based on known cohort sizes. Context on learning conditions is drawn from the Funda Uphumelele National Survey and used to explain patterns observed in the results. Below is the full list of how the schools fared…
- Thetha Secondary – 98.9%
- Leshata Secondary – 98.3%
- Thamsanqa Secondary – 95.4%
- Mphethi Mahlatsi Secondary – 91.3%
- Jabulile Secondary – 90.6%
- Qoqa Secondary – 84.5%
- Orange Farm Secondary – 84.1%
- Aha Thuto Secondary – 79.6%
- Vulanindlela Secondary – 79.6%
- Raphela Secondary – 78.0%
- Imbali Combined School – 100%
- Vutomi High School – 100%
- Siyaphambili Secondary – 95.2%
- Masibambane College – 89.8%
