2022 Directions for UNDERGRADUATE APPLICANTS Contents WELCOME 2 PART A: PREPARING TO APPLY 3 Matriculation Exemption 3 National Benchmark Tests (NBTs) 3 English language proficiency 4 Applications for student accommodation 5 Applications for undergraduate financial assistance 6 Portfolio requirements (BAS & BA(FA)) 7 International applicants 8 Application fees 9 Monitoring your application status 10 KEY DATES 11 PART B: Applying online 13 The process after you apply online Updating your application PART C: Submitting a paper application 14 Updating your application 15 Code tables to be used when completing your application form 17 PART D: Contact details 33 PART E: Maps of UCT campus and surrounding areas 34 Apply online at http://applyonline.uct.ac.za Apply online if you have a working email address that is not shared with another UCT applicant. CORRESPONDENCE AND INQUIRIES Please address correspondence to [email protected] or to: The Director of Admissions University of Cape Town Private Bag X3 Rondebosch, 7701 South Africa. For faculty-specific and other queries, please use the contact details in Part D. We have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information in this guide and our handbooks. However, we reserve the right at any time, if circumstances dictate, to: (i) change any of the published details as well as the courses and curricula on offer, or (ii) add to, or withdraw any of the courses on offer. UCT is aware that the current crisis related to COVID-19 will impact the regular operational timelines. Given the fluid situation that prevails all dates contained in our publications and correspondence are subject to change. 2 Welcome Dear Applicant Thank you. Your interest in studying at the University of Cape Town is important to us. A great deal has been written about the times in which we find ourselves, and about the uncertainties which have become so common. It may be the case that you experiences this first hand in your schools and institutions. I can only add here that, even though your application and admission to UCT will be conducted in this new reality, it is our intention to provide you every support in your journey. This guide provides assistance with the application process, and includes a wide range of important information you may need to be aware of. This information you may require before, during and after your application, so please keep a copy handy. We look forward to receiving your application for admission, and hope to welcome you to UCT in 2022. With my warm regards, Carl Herman Director of Admissions PART A: Preparing to apply 3 MATRICULATION AND THE NATIONAL SENIOR CERTIFICATE (NSC) “Matriculation” means you have met the legal minimum admission requirement for degree study. This means that: • your NSC has been endorsed by UMALUSI to the effect that you have met the minimum requirements for admission to bachelors degree (or if applying for a diploma, the minimum requirements for admission to diploma study) at a South African university, or • your Senior Certificate has been endorsed by UMALUSI to the effect that you have met the minimum requirements for admission to degree study in a South African university; or • you have a certificate of complete exemption from matriculation requirements, issued by the Matriculation Board. We set additional admission requirements over and above the minimum legal eligibility requirement. In addition to the legal minimum you must also meet the admission requirements for your programme of study. These are set out in our Prospectus. CONDITIONAL MATRICULATION EXEMPTION Although we do not usually accept applicants with certificates of Conditional Exemption, we will give consideration to applicants who qualify for Conditional Exemption. These certificates can be granted to: • South Africans on the grounds of mature age, subject to minimum requirements as set by the Matriculation Board • applicants who have written a school-leaving examination other than the SA Senior Certificate • immigrants • applicants who have obtained certain post-school qualifications Where we offer you a study place, and you intend to register at UCT in 2022, it is your responsibility to apply for the issue of the necessary conditional exemption certificate. This is done by submitting the appropriate application form, documents and fee to UCT at registration. UCT then forwards this to the Matriculation Board. You will be advised by the relevant faculty office. ELIGIBILITY FOR MATRICULATION EXEMPTION FOR HOLDERS OF FOREIGN QUALIFICATIONS If you have a school-leaving certificate from an international or foreign examining authority, to establish if you are eligible for a matriculation exemption certificate, consult the website at http://mb.usaf.ac.za/ or write to: HE Enrolment Programme (Matriculation Board), PO Box 3854, Pretoria 0001, South Africa Tel: +27 010 591 4401/2 Fax: +27 86 680 5727 Email: [email protected] ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS FOR UNDERGRADUATE STUDY Familiarise yourself with our admission criteria. Should you hold a school-leaving certificate for which admission criteria are not specified in the 2022 Undergraduate Prospectus, your application will be considered individually, taking into ac- count your school curriculum, performance and National Benchmark Test results, where appropriate. The 2022 Undergraduate Prospectus gives details of our admission requirements. Meeting minimum requirements does not guarantee admission. Places are limited for reasons of capacity and this could mean that applicants who meet the minimum admission requirements do not receive an offer of a study place. NATIONAL BENCHMARK TESTS (NBTS) Except for applications to programmes in the Faculty of Engineering & the Built Environment, all undergraduate appli- cants who are normally resident in, or have completed schooling in South Africa must write the National Benchmark Tests (NBTs), and all applicants to programmes in Health Sciences must write the NBTs. Applicants applying to the Faculty of Engineering & the Built Environment are not required to write the NBTs. You must: • register for the NBTs before you apply (online, or before you submit a paper application form); • include your NBT registration number in your application; • have written the NBTs by 2 October 2021 for all faculties; except Health Sciences which requires you to write by an earlier date. Please wait for correspondence about the NBT deadline for Health Sciences. 4 Applicants to the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Humanities programmes, where Mathematics is not a requirement, need to write only the Academic and Quantitative Literacy (AQL) test. Applicants to Commerce, Health Sciences, and Science, must write both the AQL and the Mathematics NBT tests. In 2021, the NBTs will be written both online and as pencil-and-paper tests. Please consult the testing programme at www. nbt.ac.za in order to select your date as part of your registration. For information on the NBTs, please either visit www.nbt.ac.za, or call 021 650 3523, or email [email protected], or write to: The Project Secretary Centre for Educational Testing for Access and Placement University of Cape Town Private Bag X3 Rondebosch 7701 WHEN TO WRITE NATIONAL BENCHMARK TESTS We strongly encourage you to write the NBTs as early as possible. The final date for writing the NBTs is 2 October 2021 for all faculties; except Health Sciences which requires you to write by an earlier date. Please wait for correspondence about the NBT deadline for Health Sciences. You do not need to submit your NBT results to UCT. We will receive these directly from the NBT Offices. In 2021, the NBTs will be written both online and as pencil-and-paper tests. Please consult the testing programme at nbt.ac.za in order to select your date as part of your registration. REWRITING THE NBTS You are allowed to rewrite the NBTs once. Should you elect to do so, the second sitting must be no later than the due dates above. We use the better results of each domain / test. FOR APPLICANTS WHO PREVIOUSLY WROTE THE NBTS NBT results are only valid for two years prior to the year of application; so if you wrote the NBTs in 2019 or 2020, the results remain valid, but you may choose to rewrite in 2021. If you wrote the NBTs prior to 2019, these results are no longer valid. Please submit your NBT registration number with your application, and we will obtain your results. If you no longer have your NBT registration number, please visit www.nbt.ac.za in order to obtain your NBT registration number. You will need your South African identity number or passport number. HOW TO REGISTER FOR THE NBTS You may register online or by telephone for the NBTs. 1. Register online at www.nbt.ac.za. After reading the general information and the FAQs, select the ‘‘Book a test” link and follow all instructions. Note that you will need your SA identity number or a foreign passport number in order to register. If you encounter problems during the registration process, call 021 650 3523 or send an email to nbt@uct. ac.za for assistance. The NBT Project is staffed from 08:00 to 16:00 weekdays and from 07:00 to 10:00 on national test days. 2. If you do not have access to the internet, call 021 650 3523 for registration assistance at the times above. 3. There is a fee for the National Benchmark Tests. ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY English language proficiency is a requirement for study at UCT. All international students for whom English is not a first/ home language or have not passed English at NSC Grade 12, AS-level, IGCSE, NSSC level or equivalent secondary school- leaving qualification from an English medium-of-instruction institution must provide proof of English language proficiency. As part of your application to study at UCT, you must submit one of the following: UCT’s English language admission requirements are • A valid (no more than 3 years old) NBT Academic Literacy Test Plus report with an overall score of Upper Intermediate or above.