University of the Western Cape UWC Admission Requirements

University of the Western Cape Admission Requirements 2023 – See Details Below:

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%

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