For the 2015 student intake, the University of Pretoria (UP) received more than 42 000 applications from high school learners across the country. The number of new undergraduate students that can be accommodated at UP is 10 250.

The University is a leading higher education institution in South Africa with close to 50 000 undergraduate and postgraduate contact students. We attract highly talented learners from across South Africa – last year, more than a third of SA’s top achievers who achieved six or more distinctions in the National Senior Certificate examination applied to study at UP – and also from further afield, especially from neighbouring countries and across the African continent. The number of student applications received each year exceeds the places available to accommodate prospective students by a huge margin, which increases steadily in tandem with the number of school leavers aspiring to tertiary study.

The University has a planned growth policy and accompanying student enrolment strategy, as agreed with the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) in the Enrolment Plan. Growth targets at the undergraduate level are differentiated according to identified areas. These were selected taking into account national human resource needs, especially in scarce skills areas vital for economic growth, and UP’s existing physical capacity and available resources.

In line with its enrolment strategy, the University unfortunately does not accept any walk-in applications in January. The annual application cycle for the following year is from 1 March to 30 September, with specific closing dates within the cycle. This year’s closing date for applications for academic programmes in the Faculty of Health Sciences and the Faculty of Veterinary Science was 31 May 2014. The closing date for a limited number of specified academic programmes was 30 June 2014 and the various other academic programmes all closed on 30 September 2014. No late applications after these dates are considered.

Turning to registration: students may only register if they comply with the minimum admission requirements for their specific study programme. To avoid long queues, students who have been provisionally admitted are required to register online during the 2015 registration period. The registration schedule with registration dates is available on the University’s website at www.up.ac.za/online-registration.

The University manages a number of financial aid funds and students may also apply for a National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) study loan through the University. Please visit www.up.ac.za/feesfunding for details and information on study finance. Please note that the closing date for applications for NSFAS study loans for 2015, in line with the closing date for enrolment applications, was 30 September 2014.