Everything on this page is free, and most of it is official. These are the sources worth bookmarking for a South African school career — past papers, curriculum-aligned content, admission information and support — with notes on what each is actually good for.
Last reviewed: July 2026. We link to stable home pages rather than deep links, because official sites reorganise often — use each site's own search for the specific document you need.
Past papers and official exam bodies
- Department of Basic Education — education.gov.za The source of truth for the NSC: past exam papers with marking memos, subject guidelines (CAPS documents), and the DBE's Second Chance matric support programme. Search the site for "past exam papers".
- IEB — ieb.co.za The Independent Examinations Board: exam timetables, subject documents and assessment information for IEB schools. IEB past papers are typically distributed through the schools themselves.
- Umalusi — umalusi.org.za The quality council that certifies the NSC across both DBE and IEB. Useful for verifying certificates and understanding how standardisation works.
- SAQA (South African Qualifications Authority) — maintains the national register of accredited qualifications. The place to verify that any private college's qualification is real before paying for it (see our after-matric guide).
- WCED ePortal — wcedeportal.co.za The Western Cape's learning portal — revision packs, past papers and telematics broadcasts. Openly accessible and useful regardless of province; other provincial departments run their own portals worth searching for.
Free curriculum-aligned learning content
- Siyavula — siyavula.com Open CAPS-aligned Mathematics and Physical Sciences textbooks for Grades 4–12, plus adaptive practice. The closest thing to an official free textbook shelf for SA maths and science.
- Khan Academy — khanacademy.org Deep video explanations and practice for maths and science. Not CAPS-sequenced — use it to understand a concept, then return to past papers and CAPS materials for exam-format practice.
How to combine them: learn and practise on Siyavula/Khan Academy, test yourself on DBE past papers under timed conditions, and mark against the official memos. The study techniques guide explains why that ordering — understand, practise, retrieve — is what moves marks.
University admission and applications
- Each university's own admissions pages — the only authoritative source for APS requirements, subject minimums and application dates, which change yearly.
- CAO — cao.ac.za — the Central Applications Office, used for combined applications to institutions in KwaZulu-Natal; most other universities take direct applications on their own portals.
- NSFAS — nsfas.org.za — state financial aid for qualifying students at public universities and TVET colleges. Applications open during the matric year.
Support and wellbeing
- SADAG — sadag.org — the South African Depression and Anxiety Group's free helplines, including student-focused support. Worth every parent knowing it exists before exam season.
- School counsellors and Life Orientation teachers — the built-in first line for subject-choice guidance, career questions and stress.
And when you're stuck on the actual work
Official resources tell you what to learn and test whether you've learned it. The gap in the middle — "I don't understand this step and the memo isn't helping" — is where a tutor earns its place. StudyBru's AI tutors explain past-paper problems step by step, in your language, at whatever hour you're studying: photograph the question, ask why until it clicks, then go back to the paper and score it.