University of the Western Cape Courses

General Criteria for Admission to the University
In order to study at the University of the Western Cape the applicant must have met the following criteria:

• The National Senior Certificate (NSC) required for Degree, Diploma or Higher Certificate study, as appropriate.
• To qualify for the National Senior Certificate (NSC), a learner needs seven subjects consisting of four compulsory subjects and three subjects of the learner’s choice.
• The four compulsory subjects are: two languages, one being the students Home Language and the other a first additional Language, Life Orientation and either Mathematics or Mathematical Literacy.
• The learner has to achieve a rating of at least 4 (50-59%) for four designated subjects in order to be eligible for degree study.
• In addition to the above, UWC has its own programme requirements which is specified in the tables below.

 
THE POINT SYSTEM
For admission to degree and diploma programmes UWC makes use a weighted system for calculating points, they are as follows:
NCS Level                                                                                            UWC POINTS

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‟
 
*Partially sighted students must be able to read 24 font size.