In this research report, Gabrielle Wills and Jess Qvist collate existing and new evidence on grade repetition and school dropout in South Africa before, during and two years after the COVID-19 pandemic. In a context of greater leniency in assessment and grade promotion, significant declines in grade repetition were experienced in South Africa during the pandemic. Repetition rate declines were experienced by both boys and girls and by learners in both poorer and wealthier households. Post-pandemic, repetition rates have since risen but remain below pre-pandemic levels. While reduced secondary level repetition rates have encouraged higher levels of school completion, further research is needed to understand what the implications are of lower repetition rates in the early grades for learning at the primary level. Despite initial concerns about rising school dropout among adolescents during the pandemic, this did not occur in South Africa. Administrative data does not support rising dropout at the secondary school level during the pandemic even though there were periods of extended absenteeism in 2020 and 2021. Household survey data points to declines in the percentage of youth aged 15-19 not in school and without a completed secondary education during the pandemic although these estimates had reverted closer to pre-pandemic levels by the start of 2023.
