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Guides

Written by Mohapi · Last updated · How these figures are checked

Longer pieces on the things a calculator cannot tell you: what your results actually permit, what to do when they are not what you hoped, and how the money works.

Understanding your results

Bachelor's, Diploma or Higher Certificate pass?

The national minimum that decides what kind of qualification you may enrol for at all. It is set in policy, no university can waive it, and your APS cannot substitute for it. The difference between a Diploma pass and a Bachelor's pass is ten percentage points in four subjects.

Re-mark and re-check: challenging your results

A re-check confirms the marks were added correctly. A re-mark has the script assessed again, and it can move your mark down. The window is roughly two weeks from results day, which is why most people who miss out miss on timing rather than merit.

When things do not go to plan

If your matric results were not what you needed

What to do, in what order, in the week after results come out. The Second Chance Matric Programme is free, you can usually rewrite one subject rather than a whole year, and TVET entry is not APS-based at all so your result does not close that door.

Applying

The NBT explained

Two tests, and which you write depends on your programme. Compulsory for every South African applicant at UCT, including for faculties that do not score it, but triggered only by a subject mismatch at UP. One booking covers every university you apply to.

Late applications and walk-ins

Missing the deadline is not the same as missing the year. The CAO digital walk-in ran to the end of February for the 2026 intake, several institutions publish lists of programmes with space left, and TVET trimester intakes mean January is not the only door.

Paying for it

The NSFAS application, and the N+ rule

Most applications that fail do not fail on income. They fail on an unsigned consent form. Plus the 30-day appeal window, and the N+ rule that counts every year you have been registered anywhere in higher education, including years you paid for yourself.

Bursaries beyond NSFAS

For the gap between earning too much for NSFAS and being able to pay fees. Funza Lushaka in full, including the two conditions people miss: you cannot choose where you are placed, and it becomes repayable if you do not teach.

NSFAS for TVET students

The TVET rules are not identical to the university ones: different intakes, a transport-or-accommodation split, and its own progression requirement.

Once you are in

University residence: the application everyone forgets

An academic offer does not give you a bed. Residence is a separate application whose deadline often falls before you hear your academic outcome, and if you are NSFAS-funded, signing with an unaccredited landlord can leave you liable for a year's rent.

How these guides get written

Each one goes up when it is properly sourced against official policy or the institution concerned, rather than publishing a dozen thin articles at once. That is slower, and it is the reason every guide here carries the sources it was built from.

If there is something you need that is not covered here, tell me what it is. Requests from learners and parents decide what gets written next.

Meanwhile, elsewhere on the site