Umalusi has approved the 2018 national senior certificate (NSC) exam results, saying there were no leaked exam papers this year.

The quality assurance council was briefing the media on the approval of the latest matric results in Pretoria on Friday.

Umalusi says 796 542 students wrote the NSC examinations in 2018.

The body's chief executive, Dr Mafu Ramoketsi, said it had a duty to ensure the "high quality of education is maintained".

[#Umalusi Rakometsi says they are satisfied that there was an improvement in the quality of question papers submitted for approval (@AlexMitchley)
— Team News24 (@TeamNews24) December 28, 2018

The NSC results will be released on January 4, 2019, while the 2018 Independent Examination Board matric results will be made public on January 3.

\#Umalusi Rakometsi says it will be better for all involved if results are released at a later date, not the first week of January (@AlexMitchley)
— Team News24 (@TeamNews24) December 28, 2018

Umalusi chairperson John Volmink said this year's results were a continuation of the upward trend seen in gateway subjects, like Maths and Science.

#Umalusi Volmink said it is pleasing that there is a steady upward trend in some of the gateway subjects in terms of marks , such as maths and science (@AlexMitchley)
— Team News24 (@TeamNews24) December 28, 2018

Volmink said, while there were no exam papers leaked, there were several irregularities, most notably in Gauteng and the Eastern Cape.

In one of the incidents, a Gauteng school principal gave some of his pupils answers to questions in a Geography paper. Volmink said Umalusi had agreed that the pupils affected be given the opportunity to rewrite the exam.

- See our Matric Results page.

News24.com | Umalusi says no papers leaked during 2018 matric exams\, gives results a tick

Umalusi says no papers leaked during 2018 matric exams, gives results a tick