2025 Entrance scholarships
About scholarships awarded at UCT
- Faculties offer two kinds of undergraduate scholarships: Entrance Scholarships, for new undergraduate students, and Faculty Scholarships for returning students.
- Faculties use different criteria and methods to identify scholarship recipients. The value of the entrance scholarship may vary and is reflected in the respective faculty section below.
- The number of awards is limited. Awards are made on the criteria detailed below. There is no application process for these awards.
- Faculties make awards using information provided in applications for admission and academic achievement in the previous year.
- Entrance Scholarships are awarded to applicants based on NSC achievement in open and redress pools. For Entrance Scholarships, redress is determined by an applicant’s disadvantage factor.
- Faculty Scholarships are awarded to returning students based on academic achievement in open and redress pools. For Faculty Scholarships, redress is determined by self-declared racial identity.
- An applicant or student who is entitled to staff tuition rates, will have the record of the award noted on his or her transcript but the amount paid into the fee account will be a pro-rated percentage of the standard award.
General conditions applicable to Faculty Entrance Scholarships
- Faculty Entrance Scholarships are for undergraduate students who are applying to enter UCT for the first time, and are for the first year of academic study.
- Except in the BAS and in the Performing and Creative Arts where audition and portfolio rankings are considered, Faculty Entrance Scholarships are guaranteed to applicants who attain the published faculty threshold levels.
- Eligibility for Faculty Entrance Scholarships is restricted to South African citizens and to South African permanent residents.
- A Faculty Entrance Scholarship may be withdrawn entirely if a recipient cancels his or her academic registration before writing mid-year examinations (recipients who cancel registration after writing the mid-year exams will receive half the scholarship value).
- Faculty Entrance Scholarships are valid for the year in which the offer is made. Applicants deferring their studies will need to meet the published threshold level for the year in which they register. Faculties may rollover an Entrance Scholarship offer for applicants who take a 'Gap year'.
- A small portion of the faculty’s allotted amount for Faculty Entrance Scholarships is set aside to be awarded at the dean’s discretion and may be used for awards to applicants holding international school-leaving qualifications.
General conditions applicable to Faculty Scholarships
- Faculty Scholarships are offered to students in their second or third year of undergraduate study. (Some Faculties also make awards for subsequent years of study.) Faculty Scholarships are tenable for one year.
- To be considered for a Faculty Scholarship, a candidate must be registered for a full curriculum workload for the specified programme/qualification and may not have failed a course within the programme for which he/she is registered.
- While minimum levels of academic achievement, as defined by each Faculty and for academic programmes as specified will apply, Deans may exercise discretion when making scholarship awards considering a candidate’s academic record, circumstances and the advice of selection panels and heads of academic departments, as appropriate.
- Faculty Scholarships may be withdrawn if a recipient fails to register at the University for the year in which the scholarship is awarded, changes his or her programme registration to another Faculty, or cancels his or her academic registration before writing mid-year examinations (recipients who cancel registration after writing the mid-year exams will receive half the scholarship value).
Faculty Points Score (FPS) and subject score thresholds for the award of a Faculty Entrance Scholarship in 2025:
Download Entrance Scholarship Document for 2025
Faculty of Commerce:
The value of the entrance scholarship is R40 000
1. Bachelor of Commerce / Business Science (Actuarial Science) 20%)
Faculty Entrance Scholarships in this category acknowledge and reward excellent performance in the National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations. Award are made to first-time entering applicants and will be made to applicants who achieve the following FPS and NBT scores1
| Category | Eligibility | Criteria |
| Open | All SA Applicants |
FPS: 560 or above NBT: Proficient in Academic Literacy (AL) and Quantitative Literacy (QL) |
| Redress | Applicants with a disadvantage factor greater than 1.05 | FPS: 560 or above
NBT: Proficient in Academic Literacy (AL) and Quantitative Literacy (QL) |
| EDU | Applicants with a disadvantage factor greater than 1.05 | FPS: 500 or above
NBT: Proficient in Academic Literacy (AL) and Quantitative Literacy (QL) |
2. Bachelor of Commerce / Business Science (80%)
Faculty Entrance Scholarships in this category acknowledge and reward excellent performance in the National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations. Award are made to first-time entering applicants and will be made to applicants who achieve the following FPS and NBT scores2
| Category | FPS | NBT – AL | NBT – QL | NBT MATHS |
| Open | Minimum of 540 | Proficient | Proficient | Proficient |
| Redress Category 1 & 2 applicants with a disadvantage factor greater than 1 | Minimum of 500 | Proficient | Proficient in either QL or Maths |
Faculty of Engineering & The Built Environment
- The Faculty of Engineering & the Built Environment (EBE) awards Faculty Entrance Scholarships to South African citizens and permanent residents, as well as international applicants doing the South African NSC, based on the applicants’ final Faculty Point Scores (FPS). These do not include applicants to the Bachelor of Architectural Studies (BAS).
- 60% of Entrance Merit Scholarship will be used to encourage gender diversity.
- Ten Entrance Scholarships will be awarded in competition to candidates in the Bachelor of Architectural Studies (BAS).
- Entrance Scholarships will be to the value of R60 000 each.
Faculty of Health Sciences
- Entrance scholarships may be offered to NSC applicants.
- The number of scholarships awarded are dependent on the number of eligible students and faculty budget allocation.
- The number of scholarships awarded is pro-rated based on the planned enrolment for each FHS programme.
- The Dean may identify and make additional discretionary awards, including to top-achieving applicants doing non-NSC school examinations.
- The top performing applicant/s will be selected from each redress category.
- The allocations will be split as follows:
| Redress Category |
MBChB |
BSc Physiotherapy* |
BSc Occupational Therapy* |
BSc
Speech-Language Pathology |
BSc Audiology |
| Number of awards to be made | |||||
| 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Open | 2 | ||||
| Total | 11 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
Note: One additional award will be allocated to either Physiotherapy or Occupational Therapy taking into consideration differences in class size, which may vary from year to year.
Faculty of Humanities
Faculty Entrance Scholarships worth R40 000 each are awarded differentially across three qualification groups:
- Bachelor of Arts (BA), Social Science (BSocSc) and Social Work (BSW) (70%)
- Extended programmes of study leading to the BA and BSocSc (10%)
- Qualifications in the performing and creative arts (20%)
Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Social Science and Social Work (BA, BSocSc, BSW)).
| Category | Eligibility | Criteria |
| Open | All SA applicants | FPS: 525 (87.5% average) or above NBT: Proficient in Academic Literacy (AL) test |
| Redress | Applicants with a disadvantage factor from 1.01 to 1.1 (i.e., up to 10% of the FPS) | FPS: 495 (82.5% average) or above NBT: Upper Intermediate in Academic Literacy (AL) test |
Extended Programmes of study leading to the Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Social Science
Faculty entrance scholarships in this category acknowledge and reward excellent performance in the National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations. Ten percent of scholarships in this category will be allocated competitively based on academic merit to first-time entering applicants. Awards are made by the Dean on the recommendation of the programme convenor and the Faculty Admissions Committee (RFAC).
Degree programmes in the creative and Performing Arts
Faculty entrance scholarships in this category acknowledge and reward National Senior Certificate (NSC) examination and creative or performance excellence. The scholarships are divided among three areas on a pro rata basis and at least 50% of the awards must be to applicants from the Redress category. Awards are made to applicants by the Head/ Director of the Department/ School on the advice of a selection panel. Awards are made to first-time entering applicants or to transferring students who have been assessed by the school/ department/ college as having excellent potential. Offer of a scholarship will fall away if a student subsequently registers for a qualification outside of one of the performing and creative arts degree programmes.
Bachelor of Art in Fine Art (BA(FA))
Applicants are considered for a Faculty Entrance Scholarship based on of their portfolio rating. Portfolios are rated A, B+ or B and applicants are ranked, and awards made to the top applicants in descending order. Where two applicants perform similarly in a portfolio submission, their NSC and NBT scores are considered.
Bachelor of Art in Theatre and Performance (BA(TP)); Diploma in Theatre and Performance: Diploma in Dance Education
Applicants to both the degree and diploma programmes are considered for a Faculty entrance scholarship on the basis of their audition performance, NSC results, and NBT score (all three of which are equally weighted).
In allocating scholarships, consideration is also given to equity (with specific reference to the Redress category) and to achieving an appropriate balance between the various streams and specialisations in the degree programme.
Bachelor of Music (BMus); Diploma in Music Performance; Advanced Diploma in Opera: Advanced Diploma in Music
Applicants are considered for a Faculty entrance scholarship on the basis of their musical ability as evidenced in the audition performance. Auditions are rated A, B+ or B and applicants are ranked, and awards made to the top applicants in descending order. Where two applicants perform similarly in an audition performance, their NSC and NBT scores are considered, along with any recommendation from the Music teacher.
In allocating scholarships, consideration is also given to equity (with specific reference to the Redress category) and to achieving an appropriate balance between the various streams and specialisations in the degree programme.
Dean’s Discretionary allocation
Five percent of the Faculty’s entrance scholarship allocation is earmarked for award at the discretion of the Dean. Awards in this category allow for recognition of excellence in non-NSC or international school-leaving examinations.
Faculty of Law
LLB (Undergraduate applicants)
| Category | NSC | NBT (National Benchmark Test) |
| All redress categories | WPS of 495 | average of 75% for Academic Literacy and Quantitative Literacy |
| Open | FPS of 510 | average of 80% for Academic Literacy and Quantitative Literacy |
LLB (Graduate applicants)
| Category | GPA |
| All redress categories | 70% for previous undergraduate degree |
| Open | 77% for previous undergraduate degree |
Faculty of Science
Entrance Scholarships will be awarded to students who meet the criteria set out in the table below and who register in the Faculty of Science in 2025 (note that a limited number of scholarships will be reserved for top South African students writing international examinations).
|
South African applicants with:
|
.
|