Tertiary institutions set to welcome first-year students

TERTIARY institutions say they don’t have enough space for all the students who want to study and will finalise their admissions this week.

This comes after the release of the matric results, which saw a 76.2% pass rate, with 24 244 learners passing their 2020 national senior certificate (NSC) examinations.

Higher Education, Science and Innovation Minister Blade Nzimande said that as the post-school education and training sector, they were ready to receive a new cohort of first-time entrants to all institutions of higher education and training.

“As we head into a new academic year, it is important to remember that admissions decisions are made by individual universities and colleges, and that institutions have staggered registrations for continuing and new students,” said Nzimande.

He said that because of the limited spaces available in universities and colleges, meeting the minimum requirements did not mean that there was a place for everyone who applied.

Stellenbosch University spokesperson Martin Viljoen said the university received matric results on Tuesday and would now start with the process of making final offers to first-year students.

That process should be completed by tomorrow.

UWC spokesperson Gasant Abarder said UWC started extending acceptance offers to prospective first-time entry students on Tuesday.

Abarder said the university could only admit 4 500 first-timeentry students as that number was set by the Department of Higher Education and Training.

CPUT spokesperson Lauren Kansley said the university had space for 7 370 first-time entering students in undergraduate courses. “So far, we have received over 65 000 applications.”

UCT spokesperson Elijah Moholola said registration for first-time undergraduate students was scheduled to take place next Monday.

Moholola said the total number of prospective first-time entering undergraduate students, who had applied to study at UCT in 2021, was 44 600, and that the overall number of first-time entering applicants in 2021 had increased by about 42%.

"The university has the capacity to enrol 4 200 first-year students in 2021," said Moholola.