CAPS Achievement Levels: What Meritorious & Substantial Mean
Meritorious means Level 6 (70–79%); substantial means Level 5 (60–69%). Find all seven CAPS achievement meanings, from outstanding to not achieved.
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By the School Reports SA team – built for South African educators
Every South African report card carries a national code from 1 to 7 for each subject, and your comment explaining what it means. From the Intermediate Phase onwards a percentage appears alongside it; Foundation Phase reports carry the code and your comment only. Either way, the comment is where the meaning lives — a parent who does not read the code is relying entirely on what you wrote.
The 7-point national achievement scale
The scale comes from the National Protocol for Assessment Grades R–12, one of the three components of the National Curriculum Statement. It is the same scale in every province, every school and every subject.
| Code | Description of competence | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| 7 | Outstanding Achievement | 80–100% |
| 6 | Meritorious Achievement | 70–79% |
| 5 | Substantial Achievement | 60–69% |
| 4 | Adequate Achievement | 50–59% |
| 3 | Moderate Achievement | 40–49% |
| 2 | Elementary Achievement | 30–39% |
| 1 | Not Achieved | 0–29% |
Frequently asked questions: what does each CAPS achievement level mean?
These are the national achievement labels and mark bands. The explanations below put them in everyday language; a subject result alone does not determine promotion.
What does outstanding achievement mean in school?
Outstanding achievement is Level 7, the highest CAPS rating, corresponding to 80–100%. It describes excellent performance in the assessed subject work.
What does meritorious achievement mean in school?
Meritorious achievement is Level 6, corresponding to 70–79%. In everyday terms, the learner has performed very well, one level below outstanding achievement.
What does substantial achievement mean in school?
Substantial achievement is Level 5, corresponding to 60–69%. It describes solid performance, above adequate achievement and below meritorious achievement.
What does adequate achievement mean in school?
Adequate achievement is Level 4, corresponding to 50–59%. It indicates a fair performance in the assessed work, with areas the learner can still strengthen.
What does moderate achievement mean in school?
Moderate achievement is Level 3, corresponding to 40–49%. The learner has shown some understanding, but needs focused support in the areas identified by the teacher.
What does elementary achievement mean in school?
Elementary achievement is Level 2, corresponding to 30–39%. It indicates a basic level of achievement, with sustained support needed to strengthen understanding.
What does not achieved mean on a school report?
Not achieved is Level 1, corresponding to 0–29%. The learner has not yet achieved the required standard in the assessed work; the comment should explain the support needed.
Does the Foundation Phase use a different scale?
This is the single most common point of confusion in South African reporting, and you will find both answers online.
The short answer: no.
Grades R–3 use the same seven national codes as every other grade. The four-point scale you may have seen — Outstanding, Satisfactory, Partial Achievement, Not Achieved — comes from the 2007 assessment policy and was superseded when the 2011 National Protocol extended those four codes and descriptors to seven.
The confusion persists because a great many school handbooks, study-note sites and blog posts still reproduce the older four-point table. If you need to settle an argument in the staffroom, the authority is the gazetted National Protocol for Assessment Grades R–12, not a secondary summary.
Two things are different about the Foundation Phase. First, only four subjects are reported: Home Language, First Additional Language, Mathematics, and Life Skills. Second, Grades R–3 report the code and description without a percentage — percentages start in the Intermediate Phase. No examinations are written in the Foundation Phase either, so never reference an exam result in a Grades R–3 comment.
Writing the comment to match the code
Two rules save most of the trouble. First, where a percentage appears, do not restate it — it is already in the column next to your comment, and repeating it wastes the only space you have to say something useful. Second, describe the achievement rather than naming the number. "This learner is a 4" tells a parent nothing; "has met the requirements of Grade 6 in Mathematics" tells them where their child stands.
Every level needs a next step
This includes Code 7. An outstanding learner with no next step has been given a compliment, not a report. Extension, depth, a new challenge — something.
And at Code 1, name something the learner genuinely can do before naming the gap. A comment that opens with failure is one a parent stops reading.
What never belongs in the comment
The report card is a formal record that goes home, gets filed, and can be quoted back to you. Keep out of it:
- Race, ethnicity, nationality or immigration status
- Home circumstances — income, grants, food, transport, data
- Any diagnosis or implied condition — support needs belong in the SIAS documentation, not a subject comment
- Comparisons to classmates, class averages or siblings
- Predictions about promotion or progression — that is the school’s decision, not a subject teacher’s
A worked example
Grade 5 Mathematics, Code 3 (Moderate Achievement, 40–49%):
Thandi has achieved moderately in Mathematics this term. She works accurately with whole numbers and explains her method clearly when given time. Multi-step word problems are still difficult for her, particularly deciding which operation to use. Practising two word problems a week, talking through what the question is asking before calculating, would build her confidence.
Achievement, evidence, strength, gap, next step — in five sentences, with nothing a parent could not act on tonight.
When explaining an achievement level to a family, language matters too. Our guide to report comments in Afrikaans, isiZulu and isiXhosa explains how to keep the meaning clear in the school’s reporting language and in messages home. To draft a comment around your own assessment evidence, start with the South African school report comment generator.
Sources
- National Protocol for Assessment Grades R–12 — GN 722/723, Government Gazette 34600 of 12 September 2011, as amended
- Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements (CAPS)
- National Curriculum Statement Grades R–12
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