Entry Requirements

Many candidates from foreign countries who are in possession of foreign school leaving certificates are not eligible for university admission in their own countries of origin, or in South Africa due to benchmark differences. In view of different international school leaving benchmarks, the Registrars of universities are required to apply on behalf of candidates for foreign exemption certificates or mature age exemption. As result of practical problems experienced by institutions in handling foreign qualifications and the legal implications thereof, institutions requested the Matriculation Board to compile a guideline document for the handling of applications of exemption.

The minimum qualification required is a certificate of full matriculation or conditional matriculation endorsement. However, should you want to study towards a specialized degree, it is suggested that you read the entry requirements in the faculty brochure of the intended degree.

If you do not have the required qualifications for the your chosen degree, Unisa offers access courses in such cases. Once you pass the access course, you will be able to register for your chosen degree.

Admission Requirements

1. A senior certificate with matriculation or university admission endorsement (exemption)
2. A certificate of full or conditional exemption issued by the Matriculation Board of Higher Education South Africa (HESA);or
3. Comply with any other requirements as stipulated under‘Admission’ to the specific qualification in the College Calendar.

In general our Bachelors degrees are three year degrees with two majors on third year level. The Honours degree represents a fourth year where the student specialises in one of his majors - the curriculum typically comprising 4-6 papers.

The Master's Degree a student must hold:
(a) an Honours Bachelor's degree
(b) Note that, on the recommendation of the Head of the Department, an oral or a written examination may be prescribed as an additional requirement for
admission.

Curriculum
The curriculum comprises either:
(a) a dissertation on an approved topic, or
(b) papers and a dissertation of limited scope on approved topics

The curriculum for the Doctoral degree consist of a research thesis on an approved topic in the specific field of study of the student.  The only criteria for re-registration is that a student must proof to his/her promoter that he/she did make sufficient progress with her/his research during an academic year.