UWC General Admission / Entry Requirements

Your admission to University of Western Cape (NWU) is dependent on you meeting the specific admission requirements / APS for your chosen qualification. If you don’t meet these requirements, you may want to consider alternative qualifications or possibly, if you qualify, an extended programme (refer to the college admission requirements), enabling you to register for limited modules in your first year.

Here are the UWC 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’

Back to top button
error: Content is protected!!