Against the background of growing concern about the standard of the NSC assessment being lowered for various reasons, including political agendas, the value of proper monitoring mechanisms in the assessment chain cannot be underestimated. In this article these monitoring mechanisms, especially item analysis, are investigated. It is our contention that restoration of the quality of the matriculation examination process is crucially dependent on scrupulous monitoring of the assessment, marking and feedback processes in such a way that may be successfully used to identify and communicate problems as and when they occur in the assessment chain, and to make
recommendations regarding strategies that may remedy these problems in future.

Keywords: Item Analysis; Monitoring Standards; English First Additional Language; National Senior Certificate; Monitoring Mechanisms