Exam words, in plain English

The words on your child’s report card, on this site and in a diagnostic report, defined once and used consistently everywhere. Anything about pass requirements or admission is marked for you to confirm with the school, the DBE or the university.

Last updated 13 September 2026

Words we use

Exam Diagnostics ZA is a South African service that marks a full Grade 10–12 mock exam paper mark by mark and reports every lost mark, with a strategy report and a video walkthrough, within 24 hours. Four of the words below are ours rather than the school’s: recoverable mark, the mark in reach, the feedback report and the strategy report. They mean the same thing on every page of this site.

Diagnostic paper: A full exam paper written at home under exam conditions, marked question by question, so that every mark lost can be given a reason. It measures how a paper is written, not only what is known.
Recoverable mark: A mark lost with the right method behind it. In practice that means an arithmetic slip, or working that stopped before the mark was earned. These are the marks a change in technique can hand back.
The mark in reach: The mark your child would have had if the recoverable marks had been collected. It is not a prediction; it is the same paper, counted without the mistakes that had nothing to do with knowing the work.
Feedback report: The half of the report that states the position: the mark, the mark in reach, and every lost mark sorted into one of five reasons.
Strategy report: The half of the report that says what to do: which recoverable marks sat in which question, the concepts behind them, and what to fix first.
Video walkthrough: A short video that comes with every report and explains it, so a parent is not left interpreting charts alone. It arrives with the report, within 24 hours.

The five reasons a mark is lost

Every mark that leaves a paper is given exactly one of these five reasons. Two of them mean the method was right, so the mark was already in reach. The other three point at something that has to be taught before the next paper.

Wrong method: The route chosen could not reach the answer. Not recoverable: this is a gap to teach.
Accuracy: The method was right; the arithmetic slipped. Recoverable: the method was right.
Not written down: The working stopped before the mark was earned. Recoverable: the method was right.
Misread: A value or instruction was taken off the paper wrongly. Not recoverable: this is a gap to teach.
Didn’t remember: A formula or definition was not recalled in the moment. Not recoverable: this is a gap to teach.

Words the school uses

These are the terms on a South African report card and in the exam calendar. Schools differ in how they apply some of them, so treat the definitions below as the general shape and confirm the detail with your child’s school.

CAPS: The Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement, the national curriculum followed by public schools and many independent ones.
IEB: The Independent Examinations Board, which sets examinations for many independent schools against the same national curriculum.
NSC: The National Senior Certificate, the qualification awarded at the end of Grade 12.
FET phase: Further Education and Training: Grades 10, 11 and 12, the years in which subject choices are made and examined.
SBA: School-based assessment: the tests, assignments and practical work done during the year, which combine with the examination to make the final mark. The weighting differs by subject and grade.
Prelims or trials: The preliminary examinations written before the final Grade 12 papers, usually in the third term. They are the last full rehearsal.
Paper 1 and Paper 2: Most senior subjects are examined in two papers covering different halves of the work. Which half is in which paper is set out on each subject page.
Achievement level: The 1 to 7 band a percentage falls into on a South African report. Level boundaries are what turn a single mark into a grade change.
Bachelor pass: The National Senior Certificate pass level that meets the minimum requirement for degree study. The requirements are set nationally and change.
APS: Admission point score: a number universities calculate from a pupil’s marks to compare applicants. Each university calculates it differently.
Method mark: A mark given for the working rather than the answer. It is why working that is never written down costs marks even when the final answer is right.
Command word: The verb that tells a pupil what a question wants: name, describe, explain, evaluate. Answering the wrong command word is one of the most common ways a correct fact earns nothing.

Pass levels and admission points are worked through in bachelor pass and APS, explained , and the report card itself in how to read a school report card .

See what a report saysFrom R299. Report in 24 hours.