K53 pass rate 2026: the national figure and the provincial ones
By The PassPath Team · Updated
Everything that has been published about the K53 learners test pass rate, with who published it and when. One national figure, one province, and eight provinces where nothing has been published at all. Last checked 23 July 2026.
National
40%
pass, down from 68% since the computerised test replaced the paper one.
This is the RTMC's own figure, given by its spokesperson and carried by news publishers. Nobody has published the data underneath it, so we cannot tell you how many tests it covers, over what months, or which provinces move it most.
- RTMC spokesperson Simon Zwane, reported by ITWeb and JoburgETC, 8 May 2026: the learner's licence pass rate has fallen from 68% to 40% since the computerised test. Read it
What these figures are not
There is no national fail rate on this page, and there will not be one. The number you have probably seen quoted as a national failure figure is one province’s pass rate taken away from 100. Doing that turns a Western Cape figure, published by a political party and carried by one publisher, into something that sounds like a statistic for South Africa. It is not one, and we do not do the subtraction.
Neither figure below is an official statistic in the sense of a dataset anybody can audit. The national one is a spokesperson’s number carried by news publishers. The provincial one originates with a political party. Both are worth knowing and both are quoted here with the limits they came with.
None of this is a claim about you. Why so many people fail the new test is the guide that takes the mechanics apart.
By province
1 of 9 provinces has a published pass rate. The rest are blank because nothing has been published, not because nothing has happened: the national figure covers them, and we do not break it down province by province when nobody else has.
Western Cape
about 17% pass
Against about 63% before. Measured across roughly 142 100 tests since the system launched there in May 2025.
One province, and a figure that originates with a political party and reaches us through a news publisher. It is not a national statistic and we never present it as one.
- Freedom Front Plus figures, reported by MyBroadband, 23 July 2026: about 17% pass across roughly 142 100 tests in the Western Cape since May 2025, against about 63% before. Read it
Eastern Cape
Unknown
No pass rate for Eastern Cape has been published that we have found. The RTMC's national figure covers it, but no province-specific number for Eastern Cape is on the record, so this row stays empty rather than borrowing the national one.
Free State
Unknown
No pass rate for Free State has been published that we have found. The RTMC's national figure covers it, but no province-specific number for Free State is on the record, so this row stays empty rather than borrowing the national one.
Gauteng
Unknown
No pass rate for Gauteng has been published that we have found. The RTMC's national figure covers it, but no province-specific number for Gauteng is on the record, so this row stays empty rather than borrowing the national one.
KwaZulu-Natal
Unknown
No pass rate for KwaZulu-Natal has been published that we have found. The RTMC's national figure covers it, but no province-specific number for KwaZulu-Natal is on the record, so this row stays empty rather than borrowing the national one.
Limpopo
Unknown
No pass rate for Limpopo has been published that we have found. The RTMC's national figure covers it, but no province-specific number for Limpopo is on the record, so this row stays empty rather than borrowing the national one.
Mpumalanga
Unknown
No pass rate for Mpumalanga has been published that we have found. The RTMC's national figure covers it, but no province-specific number for Mpumalanga is on the record, so this row stays empty rather than borrowing the national one.
North West
Unknown
No pass rate for North West has been published that we have found. The RTMC's national figure covers it, but no province-specific number for North West is on the record, so this row stays empty rather than borrowing the national one.
Northern Cape
Unknown
No pass rate for Northern Cape has been published that we have found. The RTMC's national figure covers it, but no province-specific number for Northern Cape is on the record, so this row stays empty rather than borrowing the national one.
How this page is kept current
The PassPath Team re-checks the sources on the first working day of each month. No machine-readable pass rate for South Africa is published, so there is no feed to poll and this page is checked by hand. If a check finds nothing new, nothing is edited and the last-checked date correctly stays where it was rather than being bumped to look fresh.
If you have published a provincial figure we have missed, or a dataset behind either of the two above, we want it. The last-checked date on this page is derived from the newest source on it, so it moves only when the record does.
Where every fact on this page comes from
Each claim, its source, and how strongly we can stand behind it.
The national pass rate has fallen from 68% to 40%.
REPORTED
In the Western Cape, about 17% have passed across roughly 142 100 tests since May 2025, against about 63% before.
REPORTED
A pass rate for any of the other eight provinces.
We have found no published, province-specific pass rate for the Eastern Cape, the Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, the North West or the Northern Cape. Those rows say unknown, and we do not substitute the national figure for a provincial one.
NOT PUBLISHED
Why the pass rate fell.
No published analysis separates the possible causes. Randomisation, a wider draw on the question bank and the end of leaked question papers all arrived with the computerised test at once, so no figure we have seen attributes the fall to any one of them.
NOT PUBLISHED
- REPORTED
- : A government body or a news publisher said it. We have not seen the underlying document.
- NOT PUBLISHED
- : This is not published, so we say so instead of guessing.
For Code 2 (car) learners. Motorbike (Code 1) and heavy vehicle (Code 3) aren't covered yet. Test format based on official statements as at 4 September 2026. These pages cover the K53 learner's licence test for Code 2, a light motor vehicle. PassPath is an independent study tool: it is not affiliated with, endorsed by or accredited by the RTMC, the Department of Transport, or any driving licence testing centre.