Matric Results Can Still Be Published In Newspapers, High Court Rules 

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Pretoria – The Pretoria High Court has set aside the Information Regulator’s notice stopping the Department of Basic Education from publishing Matric results in the newspapers.

The court on Friday, 12 December 2025, ruled in favour of the department, which appealed against the regulator’s Enforcement Notice and the Infringement Notice.

Citing  the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA), the regulator, last year, ordered the department to stop publishing Matric results in newspapers.

However, the department went ahead and published the 2024 Matric results, prompting the regulator to issue a fine of R5 million.

The department appealed the matter, and both the regulator’s enforcement notice and the fine.

The case regarding the publication of matric results in newspapers and on other public platforms was heard in court on 27 and 28 October 2025.

RELATED: High Court Reserves Judgment In Dispute Over Publication Of Matric Results In Newspapers – The Bulrushes

The ruling delivered this morning by the full bench of judges found that the regulator’s argument that learners will memorise each other’s examination numbers to study each other’s results was unrealistic.

The ruling confirms that the publication of the results on public platforms using only examination numbers instead of names offers sufficient protection for the matriculants’ privacy.

Commenting on the ruling, the department  said it “welcomes the judgment delivered today by the high court, which confirms that the department is lawfully authorised to publish National Senior Certificate [Matric]  examination results in newspapers and across accredited media platforms, consistent with long-standing national practice”.

The judgment provides crucial legal clarity for learners, parents, institutions, and the media following recent uncertainty regarding the publication of matric results.

In its findings, the court condoned the department’s late filing of the appeal and proceeded to consider the matter on its merits.

It further held that the established method of publishing exam results does not constitute the processing of personal information as defined in POPIA.

“As such, allegations of infringement of POPIA fall away,” explained the department.

“In addition, the court upheld the department’s appeal, setting aside both the enforcement and infringement notices that had previously been issued.”

Collectively, these determinations affirm the legality of the department’s long-standing dissemination practices and remove any residual ambiguity surrounding the continued publication of Matric results.

The department said it welcomes this clarity, which reinforces a results-access system that has, for decades, provided candidates, families, and post-school institutions with equitable and reliable means of obtaining examination outcomes.

AfriForum, a respondent in the matter, said it welcomes the court ruling confirming that matric results may indeed be published on public platforms.

AfriFoum said it views the ruling as a victory for all parties involved, but especially for the protection of public interests.

Cost orders were also made in favour of AfriForum and the media houses that were respondents in the case.

According to Alana Bailey, AfriForum’s Head of Cultural Affairs, the dispute regarding the public release of matric results started in 2022 when the department tried to prohibit it.

In legal action that followed, the judge agreed with the argument of AfriForum and the other parties involved that the release of the results were in the public interest and should therefore proceed.

At the end of last year, the regulator tried to prevent the department from releasing the 2024 matric results.

However, the IR’s application to obtain an interdict against it failed, after which this case on the merits followed.

According to Bailey, matriculants regularly appeal to AfriForum to help ensure that they will still be able to get their results in the media as before.

This case was also necessary for providing more clarity about the balance between the protection of individuals’ privacy and the necessity to release information in the public interest.

“This ruling contributes to more certainty in this regard,” said Bailey.

“This year’s matriculants, as well as future ones, will now still have access to their results, and AfriForum is grateful that we were able to protect their rights in this regard.”

Reacting to the ruling in which both parties were ordered to pay their own costs, the regulators said: “Naturally, the Regulator is disappointed that the Court’s judgment was not in its favour”.

In a terse statement made available to The Bulrushes, the regulator said it “notes the decision by the full bench of the Pretoria High Court to set aside the Regulator’s Enforcement Notice and the Infringement Notice, carrying a fine of R5 million”.

The regulator said it was studying the court’s judgment before deciding on the next move.

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