Universities ready to hit ground running

Universities across the country say they are ready to handle thousands of students who will flock in for first year registrations despite the matric results being released late.

Matric results for the class of 2022 were released on Friday, which is a little later than usual.

Dr Phethiwe Matutu, CEO at Universities SA, said the date of the release of the results was communicated to all institutions in order to accommodate the “unusual” timeframe.

“So, the institutions had been made aware timeously in 2022 to help plan for the 2023 academic year… Each university has communicated through their chosen mediums how and when registrations are going to take place. ..We can only hope to experience a smooth registration period. But should any issues come to the fore, we believe the institutions will be able to handle them,” said Matutu.

Every year, universities have to deal with thousands of applications for first year while they have limited spaces for enrollment.

The delay in the release of matric results means that the academic programme for tertiary institutions will start later than usual.

Being warned about the delays on time, universities have planned for registration to take place later in the month of January into February.

University of the Witwatersrand spokesperson Buhle Zuma said

the release of the matric results late did put pressure on the universities in terms of turnaround times, from receiving the results to making selection and then registering students – generally having to take place within a 10-day period.  

“Wits received well over 100,000 applications for some 6,000 first-year places and whilst we have good processes and will have a full staff complement in place to manage the selections, it leaves very little room for any manoeuvrability of students who are faced with having to make life choices such as which programme to choose, and which university to attend,” Zuma said.

She added that classes would start on February 21 and there would be no late registration.

At the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) there are 8,500 places available but the university received 250,000 applications.

UKZN spokesperson Normah Zondo said due to the high number of applications, the university was thus unable to accommodate walk-in applications.

“Students that are NSFAS (National Student Financial Aid Scheme) funded are encouraged to familiarise themselves with the information required and associated deadlines…In line with the fee adjustments proposed to universities by the department of higher education and training, the university’s tuition fees have been adjusted by 5,10% and the student residence fees have been adjusted by 7,10% for the 2023 academic year.”

Students are expected to have paid the minimum fee for registration by February 24.

The University of Johannesburg (UJ) has about 10,500 spaces for first year students and has also received thousands of applications.

UJ registrar Prof Kinta Burger said registration was entirely online. “The university will review the status of all applicants based on their final grade 12 results on 20 January 2023.

“All applicants who have been provisionally or conditionally accepted into a study programme of their choice at UJ will receive official confirmation of their final admission status via email. If applicants have not received an email by 23 January 2023, they should visit the UJ website,” said Burger.

University of Cape Town spokesperson Nombuso Shabalala said the institution did not anticipate any delays on its registration processes at the moment.

UCT has 51,000 applications for first year, with only 4,200 spaces available.

dlaminip@sowetan.co.za