A cognitive analysis of water pollution in the South African DBE NSC Geography examinations, 2021–2025

South Africa’s water pollution crisis is severe, yet the cognitive demand of NSC Geography questions on this topic has not been systematically examined. The study employs qualitative content analysis of question papers and official marking guidelines to compare intended cognitive demand with the demand actually required to earn marks. Using Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy as the analytical framework, it analyses how water pollution is articulated across the Geography FET CAPS curriculum, Examination Guidelines, and DBE NSC Geography November papers and its MGs (2021–2025). Findings reveal a misalignment: higher-order verbs in question papers are consistently reduced to recall-based checklists by the MGs. Furthermore, the examination materials frame water pollution in depoliticized, technocratic terms that omit governance failures and constitutional rights. No question across the 5‑year corpus required learners to evaluate municipal collapse or engage with the constitutional dimensions of the crisis. The study concludes that the NSC Geography assessment denies learners the powerful knowledge required for water pollution literacy.