· Built around the APS score calculator
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Matrics are writing the NSC now and results arrive in mid-January. The moment they land, one question matters: do my marks get me in? The trouble is that there is no single "APS". Every university turns your marks into its own number, on its own scale, with its own rules for Life Orientation, bonus points and weak subjects. This post takes one learner's results and runs them through the six biggest universities' methods with the APS calculator and the university calculators, so you can see exactly where the numbers part ways - and work out your own before results day.
Our sample learner
We use the same made-up learner, Lindiwe, in every APS post in this series, so you can compare universities side by side. Her final NSC marks:
- isiZulu Home Language 91% (level 7)
- English First Additional Language 72% (level 6) - the language she will study in
- Mathematics 68% (level 5)
- Physical Sciences 64% (level 5)
- Life Sciences 75% (level 6)
- Geography 38% (level 2) - her weak subject
- Life Orientation 84% (level 7)
That is a bachelor's pass: 40% or more in her home language, 50% or more in four subjects, and at least 30% in the rest (matric pass level calculator).
Run your own marks
The standard APS uses your NSC levels (1 to 7) for six subjects, leaving out Life Orientation. Pick your levels below; the university calculators linked under each section take your actual percentages.
Lindiwe's score at each university
Wits: seven subjects, bonus points, Life Orientation in
- Wits counts seven subjects, Life Orientation included, on an 8-point scale: 8 for 90-100%, 7 for 80-89% ... 3 for 40-49%, and 0 below 40%.
- English and Mathematics get 2 bonus points from 60% - Lindiwe's English 72% scores 6 + 2 = 8 and her Maths 68% scores 5 + 2 = 7.
- Life Orientation is worth at most 4: 4 at 90%, 3 at 80%, 2 at 70%, 1 at 60%. Her 84% scores 3.
- Her other four score 8 + 6 + 5 + 0 = 19 (isiZulu 91%, Life Sciences 75%, Physical Sciences 64%, Geography 38%).
- Total 37 of 56. Check yours with the Wits APS calculator.
- Health Sciences at Wits does not use this APS - it ranks on its own composite index, so check the faculty page if you want medicine.
UCT: percentages, not levels
- UCT adds your six best percentages, Life Orientation out, English and the subjects your faculty requires in. A subject under 40% scores nothing.
- For Commerce (Maths required) that is 72 + 68 + 91 + 75 + 64 + 0 = 370 of 600 - the Geography 38% is in her six but scores 0.
- For Science it is out of 800: Maths and Physical Sciences count twice, so 370 + 68 + 64 = 502.
- Health Sciences adds your three National Benchmark Test percentages, for a score out of 900.
- BCom and BBusSc ask an FPS of 430, with 435 or more guaranteed in UCT's 2027 guidelines - Lindiwe's 370 is 60 short.
- This Faculty Points Score is not the end - UCT adds a disadvantage weighting for South African applicants, and each programme sets its own bands. Run yours in the UCT FPS calculator.
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Stellenbosch: your average, and the engineering score
- Stellenbosch does not use the 7-point APS - it selects on the average of your six best subjects, Life Orientation out.
- Lindiwe's six add up to 408, an average of 68.00%.
- For engineering (BEng) the selection score is Maths + Physical Sciences + 6 x your average: 68 + 64 + 408 = 540 of 800.
- She misses two BEng minimums: an average of 70% and Mathematics 70%. Physical Sciences (60%) and English are fine.
- Early selection needs more: Maths 75% and Physical Sciences 65% - 70% and 60% only get you considered.
- Programme scores are higher than the minimums: SU's 2027 guide gives 600 for Civil and 660 for Mechanical Engineering.
- SU sets each programme's cut-off after applications close, so a score that got in last year is a guide, not a promise (Stellenbosch score calculator).
UP, UJ and UKZN: the standard scale, with one twist
- UP and UJ use the plain NSC scale on six subjects - 7 for 80-100% down to 1 below 30%, Life Orientation never counts. Lindiwe scores 31 at both.
- Her 38% still earns 2 points there, because the NSC scale gives level 2 for 30-39%.
- UKZN uses an 8-point scale: 8 for 90-100%. Her isiZulu 91% earns 8, so UKZN gives 32 of 48 - English and Maths always count, plus her best four others.
- UP's BCom Accounting Sciences asks APS 34 for 2027 - Lindiwe's 31 is 3 short. UKZN's BSc Engineering (Agricultural) starts at 33, one more than her 32.
- Every programme then sets its own minimum and subject levels - a high APS with Maths Literacy will not open a programme that requires Mathematics.
Worked example 2: a re-mark lifts Geography from 38% to 45%
- Wits jumps from 37 to 40 - 45% scores 3 instead of 0.
- UCT jumps from 370 to 415 (Science 547), because the subject now counts at all.
- Stellenbosch's average rises to 69.17% and the BEng score to 547 - still under the 70% average.
- UP and UJ move only from 31 to 32, UKZN from 32 to 33 - one level up.
- The lesson: a mark just under 40% is the costliest mark on the certificate at the universities that zero it. A re-mark or a supplementary exam (see the exam mark calculator) is worth thinking about if you sit close to 40%.
Worked example 3: Maths 72% instead of 68%
- Wits goes from 37 to 38 - level 6 plus the bonus is 8.
- UP, UJ go to 32 and UKZN to 33.
- UCT Commerce goes to 374, Science to 510 - Maths counts twice for Science.
- Stellenbosch BEng: 548 of 800, Maths minimum now met - but the 68.67% average still misses 70%.
- A 4% gain in one subject moves the 7-point APS by one point at most, but percentage-based universities reward every mark.
Checked against the universities' own methods
Before writing, each calculator was run on Lindiwe's marks in a browser against the live calculator code, and its rule checked against the method the university publishes:
- Wits - entry requirements page: seven subjects including Life Orientation, 8-point scale, +2 for English and Maths from 60%, LO 4/3/2/1. Our calculator matches; Wits does not say whether Maths Literacy earns the bonus, so we do not give it.
- UCT - 2027 Guidelines for Admission: six best percentages, under 40% = 0, Science doubles Maths and Physical Sciences. UCT's own worked example (English 75, Maths 84, Physical Sciences 86, 70, 79, 69) gives 463 of 600 - so does ours.
- Stellenbosch - BEng admission requirements for 2027: Maths + Physical Sciences + 6 x average, out of 800. Matches.
- UP, UJ - six subjects on the 7-point NSC scale, Life Orientation out. UJ's own prospectus example (65, 71, 61, 68, 81, 86% = 35) gives 35 on ours.
- UKZN - selection procedure: six subjects on levels 1 to 8, English and Maths always in. Matches.
- One fix made: the standard APS calculator called Lindiwe's result a diploma pass, because it wanted all six subjects at 40% for a bachelor's. The Department of Basic Education rule needs only four at 50% and 30% in the others, so it now says bachelor's - matching our matric pass calculator.
Not verified from a primary source this run: uj.ac.za blocked our reader, so the UJ rule ("the sum of the achievement ratings of the six school subjects", Life Orientation not counted) was read from search excerpts of UJ's 2027 material and its older prospectus; UJ programme minimums are not quoted here. UKZN's newest published method is for 2026 entry. The UP rule is from UP's 2026 prospectus, with the 2027 minimums from its 2027 requirements tables. Check your programme's current prospectus for its minimum and subject levels - meeting a minimum never guarantees a place, and NSFAS funding is a separate application (NSFAS calculator).
What to do before results day
- Put your preliminary marks through each university you applied to - the APS calculator and the university calculators above.
- Find the subject under 40% that costs you most and decide now whether a re-mark makes sense once results are out.
- Note each programme's minimum next to your score, so results day is a check, not a scramble.
Sources
- University of the Witwatersrand, Entry requirements (APS table, bonus points, Life Orientation): wits.ac.za, read 16 October 2026.
- University of Cape Town, 2027 Guidelines for Admission for Holders of the National Senior Certificate (APS, FPS, BCom 430/435): uct.ac.za PDF, read 16 October 2026.
- Stellenbosch University, Admission Requirements and Selection Criteria for BEng Programmes for 2027: su.ac.za PDF, read 16 October 2026.
- University of Pretoria, Undergraduate Prospectus 2026 (APS method) and Application requirements tables 2027 (BCom Accounting Sciences 34): up.ac.za, read 16 October 2026.
- University of Johannesburg, Undergraduate Prospectus (APS page; 2027 edition seen in search results only): uj.ac.za (see the note above).
- University of KwaZulu-Natal, Undergraduate Selection Procedure and Study@UKZN Brochure 2026: applications.ukzn.ac.za, read 16 October 2026.
- National Senior Certificate pass requirements (bachelor's, diploma, higher certificate): Department of Basic Education.
Calculators used in this post
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