The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) has received a flood of applications from matric candidates applying for remarking and rechecking of exam scripts, and to write supplementary exams.

While the deadline for applications to remark and recheck scripts closed on Wednesday (21 January 2009), the national Department of Education has extended the deadline for applications to write supplementary exams till tomorrow (Friday, 23 January 2007).

We have to observe this deadline to be ready in time for the supplementary exams, which start on 17 February 2009.

About 7 000 candidates are eligible to write the supplementary exams. Based on previous experience, we expect about 50% of this number to apply.

Meanwhile, candidates who registered for and wrote matric exams in 2007 and before have until 2011 to complete their matric based on the old curriculum if they have not already done so.

Candidates who qualify to write matric exams based on the old curriculum can do so in May and June each year till 2011. The deadline for applications to write the mid-year exams this year is 31 January 2009.