University of the Witwatersrand

School-leaving qualification

Wits requires a National Senior Certificate (DBE, IEB or SACAI) with the achievement levels for a Bachelor's degree pass plus any faculty or school requirements. Meeting the minimum does not guarantee a place, because places are limited. Only one matric upgrade or rewrite attempt is considered. The NCV, the Senior Certificate (as amended), and matriculants from before 2008 have separate pages.

Admission Point Score (APS)

The APS uses the best seven subjects including Life Orientation, with faculty-specific subjects included; English must be taken at Home Language or First Additional Language. Wits does not distinguish between designated and non-designated subjects. Points per subject: 90-100% = 8; 80-89% = 7; 70-79% = 6; 60-69% = 5; 50-59% = 4; 40-49% = 3; below 40% = 0. English and Mathematics carry a bonus of 2 points at 60% and above (10, 9, 8, 7). Life Orientation scores 4, 3, 2, 1 for the 90-100, 80-89, 70-79 and 60-69% bands and 0 below 60%. Programme APS values are in the course entries.

Subject requirements

Mathematics is compulsory for Commerce, Law and Management, Engineering and the Built Environment, Science and most Health Sciences programmes. Mathematical Literacy is accepted for the LLB, Education and Humanities, except Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology.

National Benchmark Tests and selection tests

Where required, the NBTs are the Academic and Quantitative Literacy (AQL) test and the Mathematics (MAT) test; only the first attempt in the most recent year counts and results are valid for three years. Health Sciences applicants (except those listed as exempt, such as degree holders, final-year undergraduates and GEMP/GEPP applicants) must write the NBTs in person, paper and pencil, by 15 August for early feedback. Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology applicants write by 15 August. Science applicants write before the end of October. Some programmes also require a portfolio, essay or audition.

Mature age and prior learning

Faculty rules distinguish mature-age conditional exemption applicants aged 23 to 44 and 45 or older; an exemption does not reduce credits and does not guarantee admission. Recognition of Prior Learning is limited to particular programmes and is not open to applicants under 26. Contact the Student Enrolment Centre for transfer enquiries.

International applicants

Non-South African school qualifications are evaluated by the Matriculation Board (2026 exemption fee R1,070, non-refundable); foreign degrees for postgraduate study need SAQA evaluation. English proficiency must be met. All students need a study visa and comprehensive medical aid, and the ISO issues a Letter of Undertaking. International students pay 75% of annual tuition before registration and the rest by 30 June.

Postgraduate entry

Requirements and closing dates are set per programme in the online course finder; examples published include a 65% minimum average for the MSc in Artificial Intelligence (closing 30 November) and the MSc(Med) Translational Research (closing 30 September). Research and PhD applicants should first contact the school about topic and supervisor. Apply online at wits.ac.za/applications; the fee is R200 (not charged to current Wits students applying online). Certified documents must be dated within the last 3 months.

Undergraduate application dates and fee

For the 2027 intake, Health Sciences, Architectural Studies, Audiology, Speech-Language Pathology and BA Film and TV closed 30 June 2026; all other programmes closed 30 September 2026. Residence applications ran 1 April to 30 September 2026. The application fee is R100, applications are online with up to three programme choices, and Wits does not deal with third-party agents. Firm offers follow final matric results; current Grade 12 learners may get provisional offers on Grade 11 results.

First fee payment

The 2026 first fee payment is R9,340, non-refundable, with exemptions for NSFAS-funded students, Wits scholarship holders and externally bursaried students. Residence fees for 2026: catered single from R67,554 and double from R63,384 (excluding meals); self-catering single from R55,000 and sharing from R52,500; Wits Junction apartments from R87,912; initial payment R5,000.

Entry requirements | How to apply | Postgraduate applications

• East and West Campus, Braamfontein, Johannesburg: the main campuses, linked by the AMIC deck (now the Sibanye-Stillwater Bridge) over the M1; Wits describes the campuses as covering roughly 400 hectares. West Campus began with the Milner Park showgrounds acquired in 1984. Includes University Corner (now Es'kia Mphahlele building) and Senate House (Solomon Mahlangu House).
• Parktown, Johannesburg: the Medical School (York Road, opened 1982), the Wits Business School, the Wits Education Campus where the Wits Sport Clinic is located, and the Wits Donald Gordon Medical Centre.
• Wits Rural Facility, Bushbuckridge: established in 1989; 350 hectare bushveld estate with seminar rooms, laboratories, a computer laboratory and visitor accommodation; used for rural health research and student training in disciplines such as public health, physiotherapy and occupational therapy.
• Sterkfontein Caves, Swartkrans, Makapansgat and Pullen Farm: heritage and research sites; the Sterkfontein Caves lie in the Cradle of Humankind.

Facilities include libraries (the Historical Papers Research Archive holds over 3,400 collections), seven museums, the Wits Anglo American Digital Dome, the Wits Theatre Complex, Campus Health, the Emthonjeni Centre, the Counselling and Careers Development Unit, and Wits Sport, with the Wits Brian and Dorothy Zylstra Sports Complex under development since a May 2023 ground-breaking.