Grade 12 past papers

Grade 12 Life Sciences past papers and memos

Download all 121 Grade 12 Life Sciences past papers and memos as free PDFs, 2014 to 2026, straight from the departments that set them.

Papers
121
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 Life Sciences 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 Life Sciences 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 Life Sciences. 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, 2½ hours

Responding to the environment (humans)
±54 marks
Human reproduction
±41 marks
Endocrine system and homeostasis (humans)
±34 marks
Responding to the environment (plants)
±13 marks
Reproduction in vertebrates
±8 marks

Section A is 50 marks of short answer questions. Section B is two longer questions of 50 marks each.

Paper 2

150 marks, 2½ hours

Evolution
±54 marks
Genetics and inheritance
±48 marks
DNA: the code of life
±27 marks
Meiosis
±21 marks

Section A is 50 marks of short answer questions. Section B is two longer questions of 50 marks each.

How hard is Grade 12 Life Sciences?

Out of every 10 learners who wrote Life Sciences, about 6 got 40% or more.

382 379 learners wrote Life Sciences in 2025. 4 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.

National Life Sciences results, 2021 to 2025
YearWrote the examGot 30% or moreGot 40% or more
2025382 37983.4%63.8%
2024374 72280.8%61.2%
2023379 02475.6%52.3%
2022399 00771.5%49%
2021384 21671.5%51.3%

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 Life Sciences past paper questions

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