This is the subject that gives matrics the most anxiety
· Citizen
Mathematics is the subject causing matric students the most anxiety during the 2026 National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations, with more than one in four public social media posts about exam pressure showing students desperately seeking help, new research has found.
An analysis of 300 public social media posts by Teneo Online School found that Mathematics accounted for 27% of pressure-related conversations, followed by Physical Sciences at 19%, and Accounting at 14%.
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The three subjects accounted for roughly 60% of the posts analysed and showed the highest levels of anxious language.
The analysis examined public posts on TikTok, Instagram, X and YouTube Shorts between September and October 2026, covering the run-up to and opening weeks of the matric examinations.
It found that more than one in four posts showed students searching for past-paper memorandums, worked answers or last-minute explanations. A further quarter expressed distress, including variations of “I can’t do this”.
TikTok carried nearly half of the conversations analysed.
Maths anxiety reflects examination performance
The online conversations come as official NSC results show declining performance in some of the same subjects causing students the most concern.
In the 2025 NSC examinations, the Mathematics pass rate dropped from 69% to 64%, the sharpest decline among the gateway subjects cited in the analysis.
Accounting’s pass rate fell from 81% to 78%, while Physical Sciences improved slightly from 76% to 77%.
The findings suggest that the subjects generating the most anxiety online overlap with those presenting academic challenges, although the analysis does not establish a direct link between social media distress and individual examination performance.
The researchers also cautioned that the sample reflects public online conversations and is indicative rather than representative of all matric students.
Searching for past-paper memorandums and explanations is a legitimate revision method, the analysis noted. The posts do not measure cheating.
‘Panic is the symptom. Late visibility is the cause’
Tracey Clayton, further education and training (FET) phase head at Teneo Online School, said the posts offered a glimpse into the pressure students experience during the final stretch of matric.
“This is what the final stretch of matric looks like in public,” Clayton said.
“Learners scrambling for answers in the days before a paper aren’t lazy. They’re telling us, in real time, that gaps went unnoticed for months. By the time it shows up on TikTok, the window to fix it properly has largely closed.”
She said the volume of last-minute help-seeking around Mathematics should be treated as a warning rather than a personal failing.
“When one subject generates this much last-minute help-seeking, it’s a warning light, not a character flaw,” Clayton said.
“Maths builds on itself. A gap in Grade 10 becomes a crisis in Grade 12. The fix isn’t more pressure in October; it’s seeing the gap in March and acting on it.”
Clayton also highlighted how students increasingly turn to social media to express their academic struggles.
“What strikes me most is how public it has become,” she said.
“A generation ago, a student who was lost in Maths struggled quietly. Now they’re posting about it to strangers at midnight. That should tell schools and parents something: the help-seeking is happening, just in the wrong place and far too late.”
How parents can help anxious matrics
With examinations under way, Clayton advised parents to help their children establish a study structure instead of adding pressure by repeatedly asking how much work they have completed.
She recommended using official past papers and memorandums available free from the Department of Basic Education’s website, with students practising under timed conditions.
Parents should also pay attention to late-night study habits, she said, warning that students searching for answers online at midnight may need sleep rather than another hour of scrolling.
For younger students, Clayton said, the lesson is to identify academic gaps earlier, particularly in Grade 10, when there is still time to address them before matric.
The analysis focused on public social media posts and did not assess the experiences of every matric student in South Africa.