South Africa is not only blessed with the world’s largest mineral deposits of gold, chromium, platinum, vanadium and manganese, but also has extensive reserves of iron, lead, zinc, copper, nickel, coal and diamonds. The minerals industry contributes to some 50% of South Africa’s exports and is one of the largest employers in the country. Metallurgical engineers play a key role in the production of minerals and metals and help to process metals into final products with added value. In this way, the maximum income is generated in international markets. Components made from metals and other materials are used in all aspects of modern life.

Metallurgical engineers play a key role in the process of extracting wealth from the resources of South Africa and can be involved in three major fields of specialisation:

• Minerals processing. Processing the ore to release and concentrate the valuable minerals from the mineral resources.
• Extractive metallurgy. The processing of mineral concentrates to metals through pyrometallurgy or hydrometallurgy as recovery steps.
• Materials production, performance and integrity. The development of new alloys, the production of useful materials from raw metals, forming through casting and laser-assisted 3D printing, as well as joining through welding are examples of metallurgical applications. The forensic investigation of failures is also of great importance as it contributes to insight into how materials function and fail.

Graduates in metallurgical engineering are responsible for process/component design and optimisation, commissioning, marketing, business analysis and research. There is a place for everyone with the right attitude and interest in the field of metallurgical engineering!

For more information, please consult the Faculty webpage.

Important information for all prospective students for 2023

The admission requirements below apply to all who apply for admission to the University of Pretoria with a National Senior Certificate (NSC) and Independent Examination Board (IEB) qualifications. Click here for this Faculty Brochure.

The suggested second-choice programmes for BEng (Metallurgical Engineering) are BSc (Chemistry), BSc (Mathematics) and BSc (Physics) if your APS and subject requirements of your first-choice programme are not obtained.

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Life Orientation is excluded when calculating the APS. 

Conditional admission to the four-year programmes in the School of Engineering is guaranteed only if a prospective student complies with ALL the requirements as indicated in the table "Minimum requirements: 4-year programme".

Admission to the Engineering Augmented Degree Programme (ENGAGE) in the School of Engineering will be determined by the NSC results, achievement levels of 5 for Mathematics, Physical Sciences and English, and an APS of 30.

Students may apply directly to be considered for the ENGAGE programme.

You will be considered for final admission to degree studies if space allows, and if you have a National Senior Certificate (NSC) or equivalent qualification with admission to bachelor’s degree studies, and comply with the minimum subject requirements as well as the APS requirements of your chosen programme.

Applicants with qualifications other than the abovementioned should refer to the Brochure: Undergraduate Programme Information 2023: Qualifications other than the NSC and IEB, available at click here.

International students: Click here.

Transferring students

A transferring student is a student who, at the time of applying at the University of Pretoria (UP) is/was a registered student at another tertiary institution. A transferring student will be considered for admission based on NSC or equivalent qualification and previous academic performance. Students who have been dismissed from other institutions due to poor academic performance will not be considered for admission to UP.

Closing dates: Same as above.

Returning students

A returning student is a student who, at the time of application for a degree programme is/was a registered student at UP, and wants to transfer to another degree at UP. A returning student will be considered for admission based on NSC or equivalent qualification and previous academic performance.

Note:

• Students who have been excluded/dismissed from a faculty due to poor academic performance may be considered for admission to another programme at UP, as per faculty-specific requirements.
• Only ONE transfer between UP faculties and TWO transfers within a faculty will be allowed.
• Admission of returning students will always depend on the faculty concerned and the availability of space in the programmes for which they apply.

Closing date for applications from returning students

Unless capacity allows for an extension of the closing date, applications from returning students must be submitted before the end of August via your UP Student Centre.