An incorrect exam timetable distributed in a publication to Western Cape matric pupils is not official, the provincial education department said on Tuesday.

“The department issued a circular to schools with the final amended timetable on May 21 2015. The Department of Basic Education could still amend the timetable further,” spokesperson Paddy Attwell told News24.

He said candidates would receive the final, official timetable with their exam numbers at the end of the third term. The term ends on October 2.

The department said public high schools were immediately informed about the error in its 56-page matric support publication.

“Unfortunately, we omitted November 2 from the timetable. We immediately sent an email to schools when we spotted the error, with an apology and a correction.”

The timetable in the publication, dated July 2015, failed to include the scheduled exams of key subjects such as Mathematics and Mathematical Literacy.

The provincial education department sent an email to principals last week, informing them of the mistake.

Matrics write the National Senior Certificate in October.

Attwell said the department had a matric support ‘Mxit’ cellphone application. This was available on the provincial government’s Mxit site and had the latest version of the timetable.

He said about 53 000 pupils have registered to write matric exams in the province.

The latest circular to principals included an attachment with the correct timetable. Exams to be written on November 2 are:

– Mathematics and Mathematical Literacy P2 (09:00)

– Religion Studies P1 (14:00)

– Arabic, French, Italian and Spanish SAL P1 (14:00)

– Latin P1 (14:00)

– Hindi, Tamil, Gujarati, Telugu, HL, FAL and SAL P1 (14:00) News24