University of the Witwatersrand Application Guide: Requirements and Application Windows

How Wits calculates your APS

Wits works out your Admission Points Score from your best seven National Senior Certificate subjects, including Life Orientation, plus any subject your target faculty specifically requires. Each subject converts from its NSC achievement level (1 to 7) into points, English and Mathematics earn bonus points once you score above 60%, and Life Orientation is capped at 4 points regardless of your mark. Full detail sits on the Wits entry requirements page .

Step 1: Check your subject requirements

Confirm your course needs English as Home Language or First Additional Language. Wits does not accept Second Additional Language English for admission. Mathematics, not Mathematical Literacy, is compulsory for Commerce, Law, Management, Engineering and Science programmes, while Mathematical Literacy is accepted into Education, Humanities and the LLB.

Step 2: Meet your faculty's minimum APS

Most Wits programmes ask for an APS of 34 or higher, and competitive degrees such as Medicine, Actuarial Science and Engineering set the bar well above that, alongside specific subject percentage minimums. Meeting the minimum APS does not guarantee a place, since Wits ranks and admits by available seats within each programme. Check your specific course's current minimum on the Wits course listing before you apply.

Step 3: Apply online

Submit your application through the Wits online application system with your latest NSC results, your ID document, and the application fee or a fee waiver request if you qualify. List your subjects and marks accurately. Wits verifies these against your official results before it makes an offer.

Rewrites and upgrades

Wits considers only one matric rewrite or upgrade attempt. A second rewrite makes your application unsuccessful regardless of your improved marks, so plan any rewrite carefully and aim to meet requirements on your first attempt where you can.

Non-NSC and international qualifications

If you hold a qualification other than the NSC, for example the IEB, Cambridge A-Level, IB, or a SADC school-leaving certificate, apply for a SAQA equivalence evaluation through the South African Qualifications Authority and submit this alongside your Wits application so admissions can convert your results to an equivalent APS.

When to apply

Wits opens undergraduate applications several months before the academic year you are applying for begins, and closes well ahead of matric final exams. Popular programmes such as Medicine and Actuarial Science close earlier than the general deadline, so check the specific closing date for your course on the Wits application portal rather than assuming the general deadline applies to you.

Documents to prepare

• Certified copy of your ID document or passport

• Latest NSC or equivalent school results

• Proof of application fee payment, or an approved fee waiver

• For non-NSC applicants: SAQA evaluation certificate

After you apply

Wits communicates offers and conditional offers through its applicant portal and email, so check your application status online instead of waiting for a call. Respond to any conditional offer by its deadline, and submit your final NSC results as soon as they release to convert a conditional offer into a firm one.

Confirming your place

Once Wits makes you a firm or conditional offer, pay the required registration deposit by its deadline to hold your place, then complete Wits' own registration steps, including course selection and, where relevant, residence application. An offer that misses Wits' own deposit and registration deadlines can lapse even after you accepted it online, so treat the offer as the start of a process rather than the end.

Choosing your faculty wisely

APS minimums and subject requirements differ across Wits' five faculties: Commerce Law and Management, Engineering and the Built Environment, Health Sciences, Humanities, and Science. A borderline APS in one faculty's competitive programme sometimes still clears the bar in a related but less oversubscribed programme within the same faculty, so compare your options across a faculty rather than fixing on a single course.

Applying for residence

Apply for a place in a Wits residence separately from your academic application, and as early as your academic application opens, since residence spaces fill up well before the academic application deadline in many years. A confirmed academic offer does not include a guaranteed residence place.