Quick answer
Find the university's conversion table. Convert each subject it counts. Exclude a subject it tells you to exclude, such as Life Orientation at the University of Pretoria. Add the points. Then check the programme's subject requirements separately.
The steps
- List the subjects on your report and the percentage for each.
- Read whether the university uses six subjects or seven, and what it does with Life Orientation.
- Convert each percentage with that university's bands, not with a band from another campus.
- Apply any extra points the university gives, for example Wits's additional points for English and Mathematics.
- Add only the subjects that remain.
- Write the total next to the name of the university. Do not reuse it for a second university.
One report, two calculations
These results are an example, not a real applicant:
| Subject | Percentage |
|---|---|
| English Home Language | 75% |
| Afrikaans First Additional Language | 68% |
| Mathematics | 72% |
| Physical Sciences | 64% |
| Life Sciences | 71% |
| Geography | 66% |
| Life Orientation | 80% |
If the University of Pretoria's published method is applied
UP's yearbooks say six 20-credit subjects are used and Life Orientation is excluded. On the NSC scale, 70 to 79 percent rates 6 and 60 to 69 percent rates 5. English 75 is 6, Afrikaans 68 is 5, Mathematics 72 is 6, Physical Sciences 64 is 5, Life Sciences 71 is 6, and Geography 66 is 5. The total is 33. Life Orientation is not added.
If the Wits published method is applied
Wits uses the best seven subjects, including Life Orientation, and its own point scale. On that table, English at 75 percent is in the 70 to 79 band, which Wits scores as 8 for English because of the additional points. Mathematics at 72 percent is also 8. Afrikaans at 68, Physical Sciences at 64 and Geography at 66 each score 5 as other subjects. Life Sciences at 71 scores 6. Life Orientation at 80 scores 3 on the Wits Life Orientation column. The total is 40.
33 and 40 describe the same results under two published methods. Neither number is the applicant's APS in the abstract. A faculty can still require Mathematics and Physical Sciences at a level this report may or may not meet. Read that row of the admissions table.
Where the example calculator fits
The Career Youth Insights calculator uses one sample scale based on percentage bands, and Life Orientation is left out unless you include it. That can help you see how addition works. It does not reproduce every university's bonus points, and it is not the Wits calculation above. After you use it, redo the arithmetic from the prospectus of the university you are applying to.
Provisional and final results
The University of Pretoria says Grade 11 or equivalent results are used for provisional admission and that the final NSC or equivalent results determine final admission. If your final percentages drop, the points drop. Recalculate with the statement of results before you make a registration decision.
Check the bands before you add
Write the percentage, then the band, then the points. Do not add the percentages themselves. A result of 69 percent and a result of 70 percent can fall in different bands. On the NSC scale used by the University of Pretoria, 69 percent rates 5 and 70 percent rates 6. Wits's table is different again, and a mark below 40 percent scores 0 on the Wits table published on its entry page, rather than 1 or 2.
If you have more than the number of subjects the university counts, do not choose your favourite. Follow its rule. Wits says faculty-specific subjects must be included in the seven. Dropping Physical Sciences to make the total higher, when the programme requires Physical Sciences, does not help you.
Common mistakes
- Counting seven subjects for a university that counts six.
- Giving Life Orientation the same points as Mathematics at a university that scores it differently.
- Forgetting additional points where a university awards them, or inventing additional points where it does not.
- Stopping at the total and not checking the required subject.
- Using a school's internal score as if it were the university's APS.
Calculate again with the final results
A Grade 11 calculation is only a forecast. When the National Senior Certificate or the statement of results arrives, convert the final percentages again with the same university's table. A drop of one band in two subjects can move a total below a programme minimum.
If you rewrite one subject, replace only that subject's points. Do not keep the old percentage in the total. Send the new official result to the university in the way its admissions office describes. A message to a faculty Facebook page is not a submission.
Checklist
- The method you used names one university.
- Life Orientation was included or excluded exactly as that page says.
- The total and the subject levels are both written down.
- You have the same report calculated separately for each university.
- You have not treated the example calculator as the university's decision.
Information can change
Universities change faculty rules and programme scores. The University of Pretoria and University of the Witwatersrand examples below are from those institutions' own pages. They are not a national APS. Before you apply, open the current yearbook or admissions page for your programme.
Official sources
- University of Pretoria, six-subject methodUP's published APS method for NSC results.
- Wits APS tableThe Wits point scale, including English, Mathematics and Life Orientation.
Practise the arithmetic on an example scale, then confirm it with the university.
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