Grade 12 past papers

Grade 12 English Home Language past papers and memos

Download all 141 Grade 12 English Home Language past papers and memos as free PDFs, 2014 to 2026, straight from the departments that set them.

Papers
141
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 English Home Language 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 English Home Language 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 English Home Language. Know this before you sit down with a paper and you will know what a good mark should feel like.

Paper 1: Language in context

70 marks, 2 hours

Comprehension
30 marks
Summary
10 marks
Language structures and conventions
30 marks

Paper 2: Literature

80 marks, 2½ hours

Poetry
30 marks
Novel
25 marks
Drama
25 marks

Which questions you answer depends on the set works your school chose.

Paper 3: Writing

100 marks, 3 hours

Essay
50 marks
Transactional texts
50 marks

How hard is Grade 12 English Home Language?

Out of every 10 learners who wrote English Home Language, about 10 got 40% or more.

135 099 learners wrote English Home Language in 2025. Of the 9 subjects on this site, this is the one most learners pass at 40%.

Use that when you mark your own paper. You need 40% to pass a Home Language, so that is the only mark the report counts here.

National English Home Language results, 2021 to 2025
YearWrote the examGot 40% or more
2025135 09997%
2024129 77296.9%
2023127 62393%
2022127 63393.6%
2021122 18993.1%

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 English Home Language past paper questions

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