Is it 2021 already? 

Yes, and it’s already the end of the first term! 

It feels like 2020 and 2021 have merged into one another like never before. 2020 was a tumultuous year for everyone with us all having to adapt and adjust in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and national lockdowns.

In our context, our learners and especially our Matric’s were front of mind in terms of ensuring continuity in their learning and that they were sufficiently guided and supported to succeed in the face of a significantly challenging year. I am very proud and grateful to our team that managed this transition seamlessly with no delays to learning and to Trish Pike and Fabian Palmer, especially, who taught and coordinated our Advanced Programmes, respectively, in an exemplary manner. Thanks to our school partners as well who supported us unwaveringly as we managed the necessary changes that needed to be made.

With the results out for some time now, our AP Maths Matric class of 2020 is a fine example of grit, determination and resilience in the face of the most challenging Matric year I can think of!

Quick stats

Below is a table of some key metrics that we at Advantage Learn use to benchmark us in continuously striving to deliver the best Advanced Programme Mathematics courses in the country. We benchmark ourselves against the overall IEB average and the IEB pass rate.

AP MathsAdvantage Learn class of 2020Overall IEB 2020
Class average62.5%61.3%
Pass rate83.3%84.3%

In a conventional year, we would deliver our AP Maths courses in-person or in a guided online capacity (typical online course). In 2020, we successfully ran AP Maths in all Grades only online (in a live online and a guided online capacity). It is very encouraging to see how this didn’t negatively impact our class performance in the final IEB exam. We, in fact, saw a 6% increase in our final IEB exam average and a 5% increase in our pass rate (when compared to 2019) in this challenging program while experiencing only a limited level of drop-out in our courses as we transitioned to only our online streams.

“Learning online is the way of the future and our learners took this to heart. Based on the results we have seen from our 2020 cohort, we are extremely proud of them for their discipline and work ethic during these challenging times.”
Fabian Palmer
Advantage Learn Advanced Programme Mathematics Co-ordinator

To our Matric class, you should be very proud of yourselves for undertaking this incredibly challenging subject and 3-year program and succeeding. As Fabian mentioned above, we are very proud of each of you, pass or fail, that saw it through to the end! The benefits of this subject in terms of University readiness, character building (diligence and discipline) and developing a positive work ethic will be apparent as you step into your next chapters. 

We wish you everything of the best. Never stop learning and challenging yourselves – it is the surest way to succeed!

“Once you stop learning, you start dying.” 
Albert Einstein

We now turn our focus to 2021 with new frontiers as we introduce Advanced Programme Physics into our Advanced Programmes mix. 

About the author
Crispian Lees

Cris is our Executive Product Director at Advantage Learn. A chemical engineer by qualification, he is passionate about Maths and Science education and is a proud South African and Durbanite.

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