MTbBE bilingual assessment: Grade 4 and 5 guide

If you teach Grade 4 or Grade 5 Mathematics or Natural Sciences and Technology (NS&T) in a school implementing Mother Tongue-based Bilingual Education (MTbBE), your tests and formal tasks are now bilingual. This guide explains how that works in practice: which languages questions are set in, how the language split changes by grade, how School Based Assessment (SBA) and the end-of-year test fit together, and what to ask your HoD before the next test.

New to MTbBE? Start with the MTbBE guide for Grade 4 to 7 Maths and NS&T teachers. For bilingual ATPs and terminology lists, use the MTbBE toolkit download map.

Quick summary

A bilingual Maths or NS&T test uses two languages only: one African language and English (in some schools, Afrikaans instead of English).
The African language carries most of the test: 80% in Grade 4, 70% in Grade 5, with 60% planned for Grade 6 and 50% for Grade 7.
In the 2025 Grade 4 end-of-year test, Section A was in the African language and Section B was in English or Afrikaans.
Learners’ answers are expected to follow the same language split. Translanguaging and language assists were built into the test design.
In 2025 the national Grade 4 MTbBE test replaced the school’s own end-of-year exam in Maths and NS&T and counted 20% of the promotion mark. SBA made up the other 80%.
Teachers mark the scripts. The SMT moderates, the district moderates a sample, and DBE collects a random sample for analysis.
CAPS content, cognitive levels and the formal tasks in your bilingual ATP still apply.

The language split by grade

Grade	Year (first MTbBE cohort)	African language	English or Afrikaans	Status
Grade 4	2025	80%	20%	First national test written in November 2025
Grade 5	2026	70%	30%	Current year for the first cohort
Grade 6	2027	60%	40%	Planned
Grade 7	2028	50%	50%	Planned

These figures come from the DBE MTbBE implementation update (PDF) and the Western Cape assessment minute (PDF), which passes on DBE National Assessment Circular S11 of 2025. DBE says the same principles apply to common tests, SBA and systemic assessments, so your own term tasks should follow the split for your grade too.

What does the percentage mean? In the 2025 Grade 4 test the split was done by section: Section A in the African language (80%) and Section B in English or Afrikaans (20%). The public documents do not spell out whether the percentage refers to marks or to the number of questions. A section split suggests marks, but check with your HoD before you set a task.

Could the ratio change? The planned steps are set out above. At the February 2026 MTbBE Summit, DBE listed technical work on “bilingual transition modelling (the ratio)”. Follow the latest circular for your grade rather than an older table.

Grade 5 in 2026: DBE has said preparatory work for Grade 5 bilingual assessments is underway (parliamentary reply NW6541), and its planned split for Grade 5 is 70:30. The full 2026 Grade 5 end-of-year test details (dates, format and weight in the promotion mark) are not on DBE’s public pages, so confirm them with your district.

What a bilingual Maths or NS&T test looks like

The 2025 Grade 4 end-of-year test gives the clearest public picture of the format:

Two languages per test: one African language plus English or Afrikaans. A single test does not mix three languages.
Sections by language: Section A in the African language, Section B in English or Afrikaans. With 70:30 in Grade 5, expect the English or Afrikaans part to grow.
Question types: 40% multiple choice, 20% closed responses (short, one-word answers) and 40% open-ended questions.
Content and cognitive levels: mark allocation, content and cognitive levels follow the ATP and CAPS. Questions were spread across easy, moderate and difficult levels.
Versioning, not word-for-word translation: DBE describes a functional approach to versioning, with attention to register and spelling in both languages, and bilingual subtitles where needed.
Paper and answer book in one: schools printed the tests themselves. In 2025 the Maths test was 11 pages and NS&T 18 pages.
Timing: the Western Cape minute proposed 1 hour for Maths and 1 hour 20 minutes for NS&T. Learners wrote NS&T on 24 November 2025 and Maths on 25 November 2025 (DBE). The minute had proposed earlier dates, so always use the final timetable your district sends.

Which language may learners answer in?

DBE’s principles say language must help learners respond rather than act as a barrier, and that learner responses should be aligned to the weighting for the grade. In other words, the default expectation is that learners answer each section in the language of that section.

What the public documents do not say is how a marker should treat a correct answer written in the home language in the English section, or an answer that mixes languages. Check the memo and agree an approach at your memo discussion. In Maths, many answers are numbers, diagrams or calculations, so this matters most for open-ended NS&T answers and Maths word problems.

Terminology

Use the PanSALB-authenticated terminology lists for your language (Maths and NS&T lists are on the MTbBE toolkit download map). Learners should meet the same terms in class, in worksheets and in tests. The Western Cape minute notes that DBE expects debate about terminology in this first phase and welcomes feedback, so report unclear terms to your subject adviser.

SBA and the end-of-year test

The bilingual ATPs list the formal tasks for each term. The table below is taken from the isiXhosa versions of the Grade 4 Maths ATP, the Grade 4 NS&T ATP and the Grade 5 NS&T ATP. Check the version for your language.

Term	Grade 4 Maths formal tasks	Grade 4 and Grade 5 NS&T formal tasks
Term 1	Assignment (whole numbers and number sentences, done in class within three hours) and a test	Practical task or investigation, and a test
Term 2	Investigation (on one Term 2 topic) and a test on Term 1 and 2 topics	Practical task or investigation, and a test
Term 3	Project (topics from Terms 1 to 3) and a test on Term 3 topics	Practical task or investigation, and a test
Term 4	End-of-year test (Term 3 and 4 topics plus fundamental topics from Terms 1 and 2)	Test

A bilingual Grade 5 Maths ATP was not listed on the public DBE Maths toolkit page, so ask your subject adviser which Grade 5 Maths ATP to follow.

Term tests: for Terms 1 to 3, schools set their own tests using a nationally developed test framework and the translanguaging principles of MTbBE. In 2025, DBE planned an exemplar test for the start of Term 3 so that schools could prepare for the end-of-year test.

End-of-year test and promotion: in 2025 the nationally set Grade 4 MTbBE test replaced the school’s end-of-year test in Maths and NS&T. It counted 20% of the promotion mark, with SBA making up 80%. This may not match the weighting in your CAPS document or the one you used before MTbBE, so confirm the current weighting for your grade with your HoD every year.

Marking and memos

Teachers mark. The national MTbBE test is marked at school by the subject teachers, like other GET exams.
Marking guidelines come with the test. In 2025, DBE’s plan was to send exemplars and marking guidelines to provinces mid-year, with final tests and marking guidelines signed off in October.
Moderation: the SMT moderates marking at school, the district moderates a sample, and DBE collects a random sample of marked scripts for external moderation, analysis and benchmarking. DBE has said schools will not be ranked.
Items were not field-tested. DBE’s own comparison with the old ANA notes this. If a question or term confused your learners, record it and pass it to your HoD for the moderation report.

Practical tips for your memo discussion:

Go through every question in both languages before marking starts.
Agree how to treat answers in the other language, mixed-language answers and spelling in each language, and write the decision on the memo.
If you do not read one of the test languages well, ask your HoD to pair you with a colleague who does.
Keep the signed memo with your moderation file.

The public documents do not say whether memos are issued in both languages or in one, so ask your HoD which version you will receive.

Recording marks

SA-SAMS: DBE’s briefing says the national MTbBE test is marked by teachers and captured on SA-SAMS, and that results will be tracked on SA-SAMS for school, district, provincial and national analysis.
Western Cape schools: the Western Cape minute says teachers record the marks on CEMIS, as for any other GET exam.
Not spelled out publicly: whether SA-SAMS needs separate marks for each language section, and how bilingual SBA tasks should be set up. Ask your HoD or SA-SAMS administrator before you capture.

DBE has said the 2025 Grade 4 results serve as a baseline for the system. Ask your district whether school-level feedback will be shared and use it when you plan Grade 5 support.

Supporting learners

Translanguaging in class, fair language in tests. Circular 18 of 2024 encourages translanguaging and says “Assessment should reflect the languages used for teaching and learning” (Circular 18 of 2024 (PDF)). If you only ever explain in the home language, learners will struggle with the English section. If you only ever test in English, you are not matching how you teach.

Classroom habits that help:

Teach the English (or Afrikaans) term alongside the home-language term for every new concept, using the terminology list.
Practise instruction words in both languages: calculate, explain, compare, describe, predict.
Use short bilingual practice questions laid out like the test (Section A and Section B) before formal tasks.
Let learners discuss in any language, then write their answer in the language the question asks for.

Learners who need accommodations. The MTbBE documents do not set out special accommodations. Use your school’s usual support process (for example, the School-Based Support Team) and confirm with your HoD what is allowed in a bilingual test, such as reading questions aloud.

Learners whose home language is not the school’s MTbBE language. Each test has only two languages, and the public documents do not describe an alternative paper for these learners. In class, translanguaging can still include their home language for understanding. For formal tasks, ask your HoD and district what applies.

Questions to ask your HoD or subject adviser

Which language pair is our school using for Maths and NS&T assessment (African language plus English, or plus Afrikaans)?
What is the split for our grade this year, and does it apply to every SBA task or only to tests?
Does the percentage refer to marks or to number of questions? Should we split our tasks into Section A and Section B?
Is there a national test framework or exemplar for our term tests, and when will it arrive?
What are the end-of-year test dates and durations, and who prints the papers?
What weight does the end-of-year test carry in the promotion mark for our grade this year?
How does the memo treat answers in the other language, or mixed-language answers?
Who marks and moderates scripts if a teacher is not fluent in one of the test languages?
How do we capture bilingual tasks on SA-SAMS (or CEMIS): as one total or by section?
What applies to learners who need accommodations, or whose home language is not our MTbBE language?
Which terminology list and ATP versions are signed off for our grade?
Will we receive feedback on our 2025 Grade 4 results?

FAQ

Can learners answer in their home language in the English section?

DBE expects learner responses to follow the grade’s language split, so the default is to answer each section in its own language. The public documents do not say how markers should treat a correct answer in the other language. Check the memo and agree the approach with your HoD before marking.

Does bilingual assessment change CAPS content?

No. Mark allocation, content and cognitive levels still follow CAPS and the ATP. What changes is the language mix of the questions and answers.

How much did the Grade 4 MTbBE test count in 2025?

It replaced the end-of-year exam in Maths and NS&T and counted 20% of the promotion mark. SBA counted 80%. Confirm the weighting for your grade each year.

Is 70:30 final for Grade 5?

It is DBE’s planned split for Grade 5 in 2026. DBE is still doing technical work on the ratio, so follow the latest circular from your province.

Where do I find the bilingual ATPs and terminology lists?

On the DBE MTbBE toolkit pages. Our MTbBE toolkit download map lists them by subject and language.

Useful links

CAPS123 is an independent teacher support site, not an official DBE page. Always follow the latest DBE and provincial circulars for your school.