National Language Challenge and Puzzle Parade

Get Ready for the 33rd Annual Language Challenge & Puzzle Parade!

What began in 1991 as a bold initiative by the Border branch of SACEE has grown into a nationwide celebration of English language excellence! The National Language Challenge was launched to help schools benchmark their language skills — and 33 years later, it’s now a proudly South African tradition, reaching learners in all 9 provinces.

Driven by passion and precision, the dedicated Border branch team continues to handle everything: from crafting the challenge papers to managing all admin, marking entries, and delivering results. It’s a homegrown effort that makes a national impact!

📅 Save the Date: 5 September 2025 (Closing date for entries – 15th August 2025)
Join thousands of students across South Africa for the 33rd Annual Language Challenge & Puzzle Parade — a fun, brain-boosting event that celebrates the power of words and sharp thinking.

🎯 Ready to take part?  Download your entry forms below and let the challenge begin!

Please note that this year we are going digital. All entries and results will be submitted online via Google Forms.  

2024 SACEE PUZZLE PARADE AND LANGUAGE CHALLENGE REPORT

We are pleased to present the report of yet another successful National Puzzle Parade and Language Challenge.  This year saw a slight increase in the number of participants, which is largely due to the increase in the number of high schools that participated.

This year, we have provided a comparison of the number of schools and participants from the various provinces represented. Please see the details below:

We encourage all schools to invite neighboring institutions to participate in the annual challenge.

The SACEE National Language Challenge and Puzzle Parade serves as a valuable benchmark for schools to assess their students’ performance.  We hope you find the results informative and useful for benchmarking your school’s English language proficiency against national standards and averages. For schools that have participated in previous years, these results will also help you track and measure your progress over time.

Below please find the 2024 results with a comparison to the 2023 results.

Special mention should be made of the following schools and learners:

  • Montrose Primary School and Transkei Primary School both had 7 learners achieve 100% in Grade 1.
  • 6 learners achieved 100%:
    Grade 10:
    Paul Sohan (Curro Online)
    Lara Reid (Ashton International College – Benoni)
    Riddhi Dayaram (Our Lady of Fatima Dominican Convent School)
    Bronwyn Shone (Collegiate Girls’ High School)
    Grade 11:
    Lisakhanya Jabe (Curro DigiEd Foreshore)
    Isabella Smuts (Wynberg Girls’ High School)

These learners and schools should all be commended and recognized for their excellent results. 
We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to all principals and teachers for their ongoing support; this event would not be successful without you. We encourage all schools to acknowledge their top- performing learners, especially those who have achieved exceptional results.

For previous years results, kindly click on the year below:

2023 2022 2021 2020

For more information, please email: saceeborder@gmail.com or WhatsApp: 0835570136