South African universities
There is no national APS. Each university decides how to score you, and the differences are large enough that the same learner can hold three different "APS scores" at three institutions, all of them correct.
This is the part that trips almost everyone up. People work out one number, usually from a generic calculator, and then compare it against every university's published minimum as though those minimums sit on the same scale. They do not.
The clearest example on this site
Wits counts your best seven subjects including Life Orientation. Maximum 49.
UJ counts your best six excluding Life Orientation. Maximum 42.
So a Wits minimum of 26 and a UJ minimum of 26 are not the same requirement. The Wits one is easier to reach, because you have a seventh subject, usually one of your stronger marks, contributing to it.
The APS calculator gives you both totals so you can compare correctly.
Rules confirmed so far
| Institution | How the APS is calculated | Max |
|---|---|---|
| Wits | Best seven subjects, including Life Orientation | 49 |
| UJ | Best six subjects, excluding Life Orientation | 42 |
| UP | Six 20-credit subjects. Life Orientation is 10-credit and is excluded | 42 |
| TUT | Excludes Life Orientation, and discards any subject you scored a Level 1 in | 42 |
| SMU | Life Orientation is not ignored. It carries a minimum of Level 3, and feeds Medicine pre-selection | Not applicable |
| UKZN | Six subjects excluding Life Orientation, but LO must still be passed at Level 4. English and maths are compulsory inclusions | 42 |
| DUT | Six subjects, excluding Life Orientation and any second additional language. Uses its own points table, not the standard NSC levels | see page |
| UCT | No APS. A Faculty Points Score, calculated out of 600, 800 or 900 depending on the faculty. NBT compulsory for South African applicants | varies |
| Stellenbosch | No APS. An average of your six best subjects, excluding Life Orientation, plus faculty selection scores | Not applicable |
| UWC | Seven subjects including Life Orientation, on a scale running to 8 points per subject | 56 |
| UNISA | Six 20-credit subjects, Life Orientation excluded. Spaces are capped, so timing beats score | 42 |
| NWU | Six best subjects excluding Life Orientation, but most faculties still want 60% in it, and the language of learning at 50% | 42 |
| NMU | An Applicant Score, not an APS. Percentages, not levels. Quintile 1–3 learners get 7 bonus points for 50%+ in Life Orientation | 600 |
| Rhodes | Percentages, not levels. Any subject below 40% scores nothing at all. Life Orientation earns no points but must be at 50% | see page |
| UFS | Six academic subjects, plus exactly one point for Life Orientation at 60% or above. Capped, however high you scored. Nothing for a subject under 30% | 43 |
| Fort Hare | Six subjects excluding Life Orientation, minimum 26, but Bachelor's entry needs 50% in English and 50% in Life Orientation, while allowing one subject at 30–39% | 42 |
| VUT | Six subjects excluding Life Orientation, which is excluded from bonus points too. Technical Mathematics counts as Mathematics | 42 |
| UL | Six 20-credit subjects excluding Life Orientation, but LO at level 3 and English at level 3 gate every undergraduate programme | 42 |
Ten institutions, ten materially different rules, and two of them do not use an APS at all. That is why a single generic APS number is close to useless once you get past a rough first estimate.
Three different answers for the same learner
Take someone with six solid subjects and a strong Life Orientation mark:
- At UJ or UP, their Life Orientation is worth nothing at all.
- At Wits, it is added on top, out of 49.
- At UWC, it is one of seven prescribed subjects on a scale reaching 56.
- At Stellenbosch, there is no total to speak of, just an average, where 79% and 70% are different numbers.
All four are correct. None of them are comparable.
Institution guides
Gauteng
- University of the Witwatersrand (Wits). Scores out of 49; the number you compare against everywhere else will mislead you here.
- University of Johannesburg (UJ): accessible entry points across certificates, diplomas and degrees, and more open to Mathematical Literacy than most.
- University of Pretoria (UP). Where the NBT becomes compulsory if your subjects do not match the programme, whatever your total.
- Tshwane University of Technology (TUT): vocational focus, lower faculty minimums, campuses in three provinces, and the Level 1 discard rule.
- Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University (SMU): health sciences only, with Grade 11 pre-selection for Medicine.
- Vaal University of Technology (VUT). Accepts Technical Mathematics alongside Mathematics, and was missing from this site entirely until August 2026.
KwaZulu-Natal
Both apply through the Central Applications Office rather than directly, and one CAO application can carry choices at both.
- University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN). Excludes Life Orientation from the APS but still requires it passed at Level 4.
- Durban University of Technology (DUT): excludes Life Orientation and any second additional language, and scores on its own points table.
- Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT). Scores your best five subjects, and gives preference to applicants who put it first on the CAO form.
- University of Zululand (UNIZULU). Needs level 4 in two languages, and 60% in Maths before you may take any Mathematics module.
Western Cape
Notably, neither UCT nor Stellenbosch uses an APS, and UWC counts Life Orientation. All three break the pattern the rest of the country follows.
- University of Cape Town (UCT). A Faculty Points Score on different scales per faculty, and the NBT is compulsory.
- Stellenbosch University (SU). An average rather than a total, so 79% and 70% are not the same mark.
- University of the Western Cape (UWC): seven subjects including Life Orientation, on an eight-point scale.
- Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT). Its own point score with more than one calculation method, and published minimums in the 30s. A generic APS does not translate.
Eastern Cape
Both work in percentages rather than levels, so a points total from any generic calculator does not translate here.
- Nelson Mandela University (NMU): an Applicant Score out of 600, plus 7 bonus points for quintile 1–3 learners who reach 50% in Life Orientation.
- Rhodes University (RU). Any subject below 40% scores nothing, and Life Orientation must be at 50% despite earning no points.
- University of Fort Hare (UFH): minimum 26, with 50% required in both English and Life Orientation, but one subject allowed at 30–39%.
- Walter Sisulu University (WSU): excludes Life Orientation everywhere except the Faculty of Education, where it counts.
Free State
- University of the Free State (UFS). Part-counts Life Orientation: exactly one point, at 60% or above, capped.
- Central University of Technology (CUT). 27 to get in, 22–26 sends you to a selection test, and Life Orientation is required at level 4 but capped at one point.
Limpopo
- University of Limpopo (UL). Excludes Life Orientation from the points but requires it at level 3 for every undergraduate programme.
- University of Venda (UNIVEN): degree minimum 26, and extended programmes for applicants who miss their chosen degree.
Mpumalanga and the Northern Cape
- University of Mpumalanga (UMP): diplomas from 24, degrees from 30, Law at 33. The province's only university.
- Sol Plaatje University (SPU): the Northern Cape's only university, small enough that space rather than points usually decides.
Elsewhere, and nationwide
- University of South Africa (UNISA). Distance learning, open from anywhere. Spaces are capped, so applying on day one beats a good score.
- North-West University (NWU). Excludes Life Orientation but most faculties still want 60% in it, and the language requirement is stricter than the national floor.
All 26 public universities, covered from source
South Africa has 26 public universities and universities of technology. Every one has a page here, written from that institution's own published admission requirements rather than from what other websites say.
Six do not use a score this calculator can reproduce, and their cards say so rather than showing a number. UCT works on a Faculty Points Score out of 600, 800 or 900; Stellenbosch on an average; NMU and Rhodes on percentages; CPUT on its own method with minimums in the 30s; and MUT on its best five subjects rather than six. For those, no six-subject total translates, so the calculator shows no verdict at all.
Three publish a minimum but not how they treat Life Orientation: SMU, UMP and SPU. Their minimums are sourced and shown, and each card states precisely which part the institution has not published. All three have been asked directly, and their pages carry the answer as it arrives. Stating the limit is the accurate thing to do: the alternative is to guess at a rule that decides whether someone qualifies.
How these figures are verified
Every figure on this page was read from the institution's own admission requirements, and all 26 were last checked against that material on . Each university's page carries its own verification date and links to the document the figure was taken from, so any figure here can be traced back to the institution that published it.
That verification is the reason to use this page rather than a search result. Of the 26 institutions, 25 had a figure that had been taken from other education websites, and when each was checked against the institution's own material, only five of the 25 matched. The remaining twenty had been copied between websites without ever being checked against the source. A number repeated on five websites is not five sources. Where a figure here differs from one you have seen elsewhere, this is the difference.
Every change to a published figure is recorded, with its date and its source, in the corrections log.
What each guide covers
Every institution page sticks to what can actually be sourced from that university's own material:
- How the APS is calculated there, and exactly how Life Orientation is treated.
- Any unusual scoring rule, subject minimum or structural requirement.
- Whether the NBT applies, and what triggers it.
- Campuses, and why which one matters.
- Application route, and what is a separate application from admission.
- Who the institution genuinely suits, and what applicants commonly get wrong there.
Per-programme minimum APS values are generally not reproduced. They are set per qualification, revised every intake, and a stale cut-off is the most harmful thing a site like this can publish. Where a faculty-level figure has been confirmed against the institution's own prospectus it is quoted and sourced; otherwise the page sends you to the official document.
Where to next
- APS calculator: both totals, and every institution's baseline in one list.
- Faculty requirements: typical entry benchmarks by faculty.
- How to apply. CAO versus direct application, and what documents you need.
- Study options with a lower APS: higher certificates, diplomas and extended degrees.
- Public TVET colleges. A parallel route that is not APS-based at all.