Grade 12 past papers

Grade 12 Accounting past papers and memos

Download all 91 Grade 12 Accounting past papers and memos as free PDFs, 2014 to 2026, straight from the departments that set them.

Papers
91
Years
2014 to 2026
Exams
November (Term 4), September (Term 3), May/June (Term 2), Feb/March (Term 1)
Format
Free PDF, with memos

Download Grade 12 Accounting past papers and memos

Newest first. The memo sits on the same row as the paper it belongs to, so you do not have to go looking for it.

2026

2025

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

Grade 12 Accounting exam guidelines

What is in Paper 1 and Paper 2, and what each topic is worth.

The topics, the marks and the time you get, from the Department of Basic Education's examination guidelines for Accounting. Know this before you sit down with a paper and you will know what a good mark should feel like.

A ± means it is the weighting the examiners work towards rather than a fixed part of the paper, so a sitting lands a few marks either side of it.

Paper 1

150 marks, 2 hours

Company financial statements
±50 marks
Cash flow statement and financial indicators
±45 marks
Concepts and interpretation of financial information
±40 marks
Corporate governance
±15 marks

Paper 2

150 marks, 2 hours

Reconciliations
±40 marks
Budgeting and problem solving
±40 marks
Stock valuation
±35 marks
Cost accounting
±35 marks

How hard is Grade 12 Accounting?

Out of every 10 learners who wrote Accounting, about 5 got 40% or more.

100 485 learners wrote Accounting in 2025. 6 of the 9 subjects on this site are passed more often than this one.

Use that when you mark your own paper. Under 30% is a fail. 30% to 39% is a pass, but it shuts you out of most courses after school. 40% and up means you did better than about half the country.

The paper is not the same every year. In 2024 it was about 6 out of every 10.

National Accounting results, 2021 to 2025
YearWrote the examGot 30% or moreGot 40% or more
2025100 48577.9%54.3%
202497 63681.2%56.9%
2023100 97476.8%52%
2022104 79875.4%51.8%
2021105 89474.7%51.5%

National results for the October and November papers, from the Department of Basic Education's 2025 NSC Diagnostic Report.

All Grade 12 subjectsWhen each paper is written

Grade 12 Accounting past paper questions

NB
NavyBlue Editorial Team
Higher Education Content
Published Updated Verified against DBE and provincial education department papers