​Staff Writer 
The wait is almost over for the Matric Class of 2022.
The Department of Basic Education will release the much-awaited National Senior Certificate examination results in a ceremony at the Mosaik Church in Fairlands, Johannesburg, on Thursday.
As has been the tradition, the minister will also host the learners and parents for a congratulatory breakfast in the morning. At the same time, the Director General will deliver a technical briefing in the afternoon before the official results announcement in the evening.
Individual results will be available on Friday, 20 January 2023.
Umalusi, the Council for Quality Assurance in General and Further Education and Training has approved the release of the results.
Umalusi said it has successfully conducted the quality assurance of the management and administration of exit point examinations, including the Independent Examinations Board; South African Comprehensive Assessment Institute (SACAI); Benchmark Assessment Agency; Department of Basic Education and the Department of Higher Education and Training.
The matric class of 2022 has the largest cohort of candidates to date. A total of 753 964 full-time and 167 915 part-time candidates were registered to write the final matric exams.  
They began writing on 31 October 2022 and finished their last papers on 7 December 2022.  
Learners can access their results in the following ways:
Learners can get their results directly from the schools or institutions where they took the exams. These results may only be accessible after midnight on the release day.
Learners can also access their results directly by logging onto the Department of Basic Education's website: www.education.gov.za.
Learners can receive their matric results by using the USSD code *120*45856# and entering their exam number to register. The USSD service will be charged R1.50 per minute.
Most of South Africa's major daily newspapers will publish the matric results on 20 January 2023.
Meanwhile, the Independent Examinations Board (IEB) schools have achieved a matric pass rate of 98.42%.
About 89.32% of the 2022 class achieved a bachelor's pass; 7.52% qualified to study towards a diploma compared; and 1.57% achieved a pass that will enable them to study towards a higher certificate qualification.