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How to Find Courses With Your Marks in South Africa

Enter your matric marks, work out your APS and see which South African university courses you qualify for. Includes subject rules, privacy tips and fallback options.

To find courses with your marks, work out your Admission Point Score (APS) the way each university calculates it, then check that score and your individual subject results against every programme you like. A course-matching tool does this for you in seconds. Doing it by hand takes a little longer, but it shows you why a course accepts or rejects you. This guide covers both routes, the traps in between and what to do if your marks fall short.

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TL;DR

  • Your APS is a total of your best subject results, but each university has its own formula, so the same marks can give different scores.
  • A programme also asks for specific subjects at specific levels, such as Mathematics at level 6, so a high APS alone is not enough.
  • Meeting the minimum does not guarantee a place. Aim for a buffer and apply to more than one institution.
  • Use a tool that calculates on your device, so your marks are never sent anywhere.
  • If you miss the mark, extended programmes, Recognition of Prior Learning and TVET colleges are real routes to the same destination.

Table of Contents

Start with your marks, not with a course

Most students begin with a dream course and then discover they do not qualify. Flip it. Start with the results you have (or your latest Grade 11 or trial results if you are still in matric) and see which doors are open. Then rank those by what you actually want to do.

Gather four things before you start:

  1. Your percentage for every subject, including Life Orientation.
  2. The matching achievement level (1 to 7) for each. Level 7 is 80 to 100%, level 6 is 70 to 79%, level 5 is 60 to 69%, level 4 is 50 to 59%, and so on down.
  3. A shortlist of fields you are curious about, not just one.
  4. The list of institutions you could realistically attend, given where you can live and what your family can afford.

Wits itself advises applicants to keep their study options open, especially if they are aiming for Health Sciences or Engineering. That is good advice for everyone: apply for your first choice and a realistic second.

How APS works, and why it differs between universities

APS turns your marks into one number so institutions can compare applicants quickly. The principle is shared, but the details are not.

Institution How the score is built
Unisa Six recognised 20-credit subjects on the 1 to 7 scale, Life Orientation excluded, maximum 42
University of Johannesburg Six best subjects excluding Life Orientation, but the subjects the programme requires must be included
UCT Percentage-based: six best subject percentages added, excluding Life Orientation, English and required subjects included, marks below 40% earn no points
Walter Sisulu University English and another language plus four other subjects, including required ones; some programmes such as BEd count Life Orientation

Three lessons come out of this table.

First, a score of 34 at one university is not a score of 34 at another. A percentage-based system produces numbers far larger than a 42-point system, so never compare raw totals across institutions.

Second, Life Orientation is sometimes ignored and sometimes counted. Where it counts, a weak result drags you down. Where it does not, it still has to meet the basic pass requirements.

Third, the requirements are not set in one place. UJ’s admission policy explains that requirements are set at institutional, faculty and programme level, covering APS, language and programme-specific rules. Some universities add more, for example UCT also uses faculty and weighted point scores and requires the National Benchmark Tests for most undergraduate programmes.

If you want the detail for one institution, our guides to UJ’s APS requirements and what different APS scores get you at Wits walk through the numbers.

Check the degree pass before the points

Before any APS comparison, you need to qualify for the type of study you want. UCT, for example, states that degree eligibility on the NSC needs at least four 20-credit subjects at level 4 (50 to 59%) or better. Other institutions set their own versions of this. Diploma and higher certificate routes ask for less, which is why they matter for students who are close to a degree pass but not there yet.

If you are unsure which pass type you are heading for, read our breakdown of the minimum subject percentage for university.

Subject requirements matter as much as the total

The second filter is subject-level. Two students with an APS of 35 can get opposite outcomes because one has Mathematics at level 6 and the other has Mathematical Literacy.

Real examples show how specific it gets:

For each course on your shortlist, write down four items: the required APS, the required subjects and levels, any extra selection step (an NBT, an interview, a portfolio, a ranking score), and the closing date. A simple spreadsheet or notebook page is enough.

Field-specific guides help here. We cover medicine entry requirements, architecture, psychology, journalism, human resource management and teaching.

Subject requirements matter as much as the total

Two ways to match your marks to courses

By hand

Work through each university’s published requirements. Calculate your APS with that institution’s formula, compare it with the programme minimum, then check the subject lines. This is accurate but slow, and it is easy to apply one university’s formula to another’s course by mistake.

With a matching tool

A good tool does the formulas for you and filters a large list of programmes by what you actually qualify for. Look for these features:

  • It asks for your marks once and applies the right formula per institution.
  • It shows subject requirements next to the APS, not only a total.
  • It shows application fees and closing dates, and points to the official application page.
  • It does not need an account, and it does not charge you.

Keep your marks private

Your results are personal information, and some “free” tools make money from collecting them. Before you type anything in, run through this check:

  1. Does it ask you to sign up? If a login is required just to see matches, your marks are probably being stored.
  2. Read the privacy policy. Look for what is collected, who it is shared with and whether it is sold or passed to institutions or marketers.
  3. Look for on-device processing. The strongest design is one where the calculation runs in your browser and the marks never leave your phone or laptop.
  4. Watch what it asks for besides marks. Your ID number and home address are not needed to see which courses you qualify for.
  5. Be wary of anyone promising admission. UJ warns applicants against paying people who promise a place and states that the Protection of Personal Information Act prevents it from processing applications through a third party. Only apply through the university’s own channel.

What to do if your marks fall short

A gap between your marks and your first-choice course is not the end of the road. Work through these in order.

Look for a buffer course. Entry scores are minimums, and popular programmes often select well above them. Check a neighbouring programme in the same field with a lower cut-off.

Consider extended programmes. Central University of Technology lists Extended Curriculum foundation programmes, Recognition of Prior Learning and TVET college pathways as options. Nelson Mandela University’s extended programmes give an extra year of support towards the same degree or diploma for students who do not initially meet mainstream requirements.

Look at TVET colleges. The Minister of Higher Education has described TVET colleges as important pathways into work, skills and further study. Entry rules differ for NC(V), NATED and occupational routes, which we explain in our guide to TVET entry requirements.

Apply widely and early. For 2026, the Minister projected roughly 235,000 first-year university places and made clear that not every qualifying learner can be accommodated. That is why a single application is a risk.

Consider a rewrite or a second chance. If one subject is the barrier, ask your school or the Department of Basic Education about options for improving it. Talk to your school’s life orientation teacher or a career counsellor about the realistic route for your target career.

Five routes to consider when marks fall short

Deadlines and documents

Closing dates vary by university and by programme. Health Sciences and other selection-based programmes usually close earlier than general undergraduate degrees, often around the middle of the year, while many general programmes close in the second half of the year. Wits, for example, set different closing dates for Health Sciences and listed programmes than for other undergraduate programmes for its 2027 intake. Always read the current date on the university’s own admissions page, because it changes every cycle.

Typical requirements across institutions:

  • An online application on the university’s own system.
  • Your latest results: current matriculants upload final Grade 11 results at Wits, while already-matriculated applicants upload certified copies of their matric certificates, as the Wits application page explains.
  • A valid personal email address that you check often. UJ states that this is required, and replies and offers arrive there.
  • An ID or passport copy, and the application fee where one applies.

Keep your contact details up to date after you apply. Missed emails cost students places.

Perspective

We built Asksmarty because we kept meeting students who stopped at the first obstacle. A marks table in a PDF, a different formula at every university, and a login wall in front of the answer. None of that should stand between a learner and a shortlist.

Our view is simple: your marks are yours. That is why our course matching works so your marks never leave your device, and why there is no account, no fee and no application processing on our side. We are independent of any institution, so we have no reason to steer you towards one campus.

We also think a shortlist should be wide. Our database covers more than 1,700 programmes, with entry requirements, deadlines and application fee details, each pointing to the official portal. Use it to find the course you want, the safe option next to it and the pathway if things go differently on results day.

Nkosi

Try it with your own marks

Asksmarty’s free APS calculator and programme search let you enter your marks and see matching courses across South African universities and colleges, with requirements, deadlines and application fees alongside. You can also take the career-interest quiz if you are not sure what to study. When you are ready to apply, we link you to the official portal.

Asksmarty

Start at asksmarty.co.za and have your subject percentages ready.

FAQ

Can I find courses with my Grade 11 marks?

Yes, and many universities ask for them. Wits, for instance, has current matriculants upload their final Grade 11 results when applying. Treat the matches as provisional and recheck once your final results are out, because offers are usually conditional on them.

Does Life Orientation count towards my APS?

It depends on the institution and the programme. Unisa and UJ exclude it from their APS, while some programmes, such as the WSU BEd example and nursing and medicine selection at other institutions, count it. Check the specific programme’s requirements.

Why was I turned down when my APS was high enough?

Meeting the minimum only makes you eligible. Universities such as Pretoria state that meeting minimum requirements does not guarantee admission, because places are limited and applicants are ranked. A missing subject level or a low result in a required subject can also block you even with a strong total.

Is it safe to enter my marks into an online tool?

It is safe when the tool does not need an account and does not send your marks to a server. Read the privacy policy, avoid sites that ask for your ID number just to show matches, and never pay anyone who promises you a place.

Sources

Published 2026-10-31 · AskSmarty is an independent guide. Confirm anything time-sensitive on the official source.