Grade 12 past papers

Grade 12 Mathematics past papers and memos

Download all 120 Grade 12 Mathematics past papers and memos as free PDFs, 2014 to 2026, straight from the departments that set them.

Papers
120
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 Mathematics 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 Mathematics 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 Mathematics. 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, 3 hours

Algebra, equations and inequalities
±25 marks
Number patterns
±25 marks
Functions and graphs
±35 marks
Finance, growth and decay
±15 marks
Differential calculus
±35 marks
Counting principle and probability
±15 marks

Paper 2

150 marks, 3 hours

Statistics and regression
±20 marks
Analytical geometry
±40 marks
Trigonometry
±50 marks
Euclidean geometry
±40 marks

How hard is Grade 12 Mathematics?

Out of every 10 learners who wrote Mathematics, about 4 got 40% or more.

254 415 learners wrote Mathematics in 2025. Of the 9 subjects on this site, this is the one fewest learners pass at 40%.

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 most of the country.

The paper is not the same every year. In 2024 it was about 5 out of every 10.

National Mathematics results, 2021 to 2025
YearWrote the examGot 30% or moreGot 40% or more
2025254 41564%41.9%
2024251 48869.1%47.9%
2023262 01663.5%43.6%
2022269 73455%36%
2021259 14357.6%37.6%

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 Mathematics past paper questions

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

Had enough for now? Try today's puzzle.

Today's puzzle pulls from Mathematics and everything else you have covered. Four tries, about two minutes, and one group is always a trick.

Play the Grade 12 puzzle