applied competence - the ability to put into practice in the relevant context the exit-level Learning Outcomes and Assessment Standards required for obtaining the qualification

assessment body - a body approved by the Minister of Education to conduct the external assessment of all or some of the subjects for the NCS Grades 10-12 (General).

condonation - the waiving of promotion requirements in the case of a learner who comes very close to meeting such requirements

full-time candidate - is a learner who has enrolled for tuition and who offers a NSC in a full-time capacity at a public or independent school or any other registered institution and who presents seven (7) subjects in terms of the NSC requirements. Such a candidate must fulfill all internal assessment requirements, including oral and practical requirements where applicable.

grade - means that part of an educational programme, which a learner may complete in one school year, or any other education programme, which the Member of the Executive Council (MEC) may deem to be equivalent thereto.

Head of Department - refers to the Head of a provincial education department.

Head of the Institution - refers to the educator appointed as principal or acting as principal of a school or the head of any other registered learning institution.

immigrant candidate: - refers to a learner who enters the South African school system at a late stage and as a result thereof was not exposed to the full spectrum of all the South African official languages. Such a candidate will under certain conditions be exempted from complying with the language requirements of the NSC (General).

independent school - is in terms of the South African Schools Act, 1996 (Act. No. 84 of 1996) as amended and the Further Education and Training Act, 1998 (Act No. 98 of 1998), a school or learning institution or distance learning college not registered as a public school or Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET) centre at a provincial education department.

language levels - refers to all official and non-official languages and may be offered at the following three levels, namely Home Language, First Additional Language and Second Additional Language. Home Language is first acquired by children through immersion at home, the language in which they think. First Additional language provides for levels of language proficiency that meet the threshold levels necessary for effective learning across the curriculum. In the Second Additional Language the emphasis is on listening and speaking skills.

learner - refers to any person, including part-time learners, receiving education at a public or independent school or learning institution linked to an accredited assessment body.

National Qualifications Framework (NQF) - is an eight-level framework to provide for the registration of national standards and qualifications.

National Senior Certificate - is a certificate that will be awarded in 2008 for the first time to candidates who comply with the national policy requirements set out in this document.

part-time candidate - is a person who does not receive full-time tuition, and may register for a maximum six of the seven required subjects for the NSC in a single examination sitting.

promotion - the progression of a learner from one grade to the next when that learner meets the minimum requirements for the achievement of outcomes in the particular grade.

qualification - a planned combination of exit-level Learning Outcomes and Assessment Standards, which has a defined purpose and that is intended to provide learners with applied competence and a basis for further learning. This culminates in the formal recognition of learning achievement through the award of a formal certificate.

school - in this document, a ‘school’ is a public school or an independent school which enrols learners in Grades 10 to 12.

Subject Assessment Guidelines - Guideline documents that specify the internal and external assessment requirements for each of the listed subjects in the NCS Grades 10-12 (General).

Umalusi - Umalusi, the Council for Quality Assurance in General and Further Education and Training established in terms of the General and Further Education and Training Quality Assurance Act, 2001 (Act No. 58 of 2001).