JOHANNESBURG - Prospective university students are still waiting to hear if they have been accepted.
This as the Department of Basic Education delayed releasing the 2025 National Senior Certificate (NSC) results to institutions of higher learning.
While universities receive final results two days before the release for notices to be sent out to prospective students on results day, this year, the department delayed sending the release to avoid leaks.
Chief executive officer of Universities South Africa, Phethiwe Matutu, confirmed that institutions had only received the results 24 hours before public release instead of the usual 72 hours.
Matutu said students would be issued with acceptance letters between 13 and 19 January.
She said the late confirmation of the matric results had affected the dates for the universities for registration.
To mitigate further delays, universities had also individually started communicating the date for registration and orientation.
“As soon as they [students] receive these letters and they’ve made their choices, they must accept them. The universities also have clear communication strategies and information hotlines to respond to the students. Parents need to be aware that there are delays instead of inundating the universities.”
Matutu emphasised that, taking into account the delay, universities were working around the clock to process the acceptance letters.
“Most universities are focusing on servicing students online. “
She said in November, 14 universities indicated that they would be accepting late applications for some courses.
In addition, Matutu said KwaZulu-Natal universities had also indicated that late applications would be accepted by the central applications office.