General Admission Requirements

General Admission Requirements

General Criteria for Admission to the University
For the Bachelor’s Degree:
The minimum admission requirement is a National Senior Certificate (NSC) as certified by Umalusi with an achievement rating of 4 (Adequate achievement, 50-59%) or better in four subjects chosen from the following recognized 20-credit NSC subjects (known as the ‘designated subject list’): Accounting, Agricultural Sciences, Business Studies, Dramatic Arts, Economics, Engineering Graphics and Design, Geography, History, Consumer Studies, Information Technology, Languages (one language of learning and teaching at a higher education institution and two other recognized language subjects), Life Sciences, Mathematics, Mathematical Literacy, Music, Physical Sciences, Religion Studies, Visual Arts.
For the Diploma:
The minimum admission requirement is a National Senior Certificate as certified by Umalusi with an achievement rating of 3 (moderate Achievement, 40-49%) or better in four recognized NSC 20-credit subjects.
For the Higher Certificate:
The minimum admission requirement is a National Senior Certificate as certified by Umalusi​.
The Point System
For admission to degree and diploma programmes, UWC will use a weighted system for calculating points, stated as follows:

NSC ​Level Percentage​ Points for
English​ (*)
Points for
Maths or Maths Lit​
Points for
Life Orientation​
Points for each​
Other Subject
8 90-100% 15 15 3 8
​​7 ​80-89% ​13 ​13 ​3 ​7
​6 ​70-79% ​11 ​11 ​2 ​6
​5 ​60-69% ​9 ​9 ​2 ​5
​4 ​50-59% ​7 ​7 ​2 ​4
​3 ​40-49% ​5 ​5 ​1 ​3
​2 ​30-39% ​3 ​3 ​1 ​2
​1 20-29% ​1 ​1 ​1 ​1
less than 20% ​ 0 0 0 0

(*) – ‘English’ here refers to either English home language or English first additional language, not second additional language, which would rather fall under ‘other subjects’