Past papers

Grade 12 past papers and memos

The NSC finals decide your matric result. These are the papers that came before them. 1,073 Grade 12 past papers and memos across 9 subjects, 2014 to 2026, free to download as PDFs.

Papers
1,073
With memos
930
Years
2014 to 2026

Published by the national and provincial education departments.

Latest Grade 12 past papers

The most recent sitting we hold for each subject. Download the paper and its memo here.

  • Accounting

    May/June 2026 · Paper 1 · Gauteng

  • Business Studies

    May/June 2026 · Paper 1 · Gauteng

  • English First Additional Language

    May/June 2026 · Paper 1 · Gauteng

  • English Home Language

    May/June 2026 · Paper 1 · Gauteng

  • Geography

    May/June 2026 · Paper 1 · Gauteng

  • Life Sciences

    May/June 2026 · Gauteng

Grade 12 past papers by subject

Every subject we hold for Grade 12, with the number of papers on each page.

Which exams Grade 12 writes

Papers here are grouped by sitting, so this is what each one means.

NovemberTerm 4
The NSC final examinations, written nationally. These decide your matric result.
SeptemberTerm 3
The preparatory exams, or trials, set by each province as a full dress rehearsal.
May/JuneTerm 2
The mid-year examinations, written in May and June.
Feb/MarchTerm 1
The supplementary exams, for candidates rewriting a subject.

What matric year asks of you

The November papers are the National Senior Certificate exams. Every matric in the country writes the same paper on the same day, and nothing else you write this year counts for as much.

The September exams, which most schools call the trials or the prelims, are set to look like the finals. Write them the way you would write the real thing and the finals will not feel new to you.

Start with the newest November paper and work backwards. Papers from the last three years were set by the same examiners who set yours, and how they word a question matters as much as what it is about.

Grade 12 past paper questions