So, you are keen to study at the University of Cape Town (UCT)?  One of the need-to-knows before sending off your application form is the APS calculation.

APS stands for Admission Point Score.  In South Africa, universities use APS points as one of the tools to see if applicants qualify for their respective programmes. UCT  has a unique admission system that uses both an APS calculation and Faculty Point Score (FPS), depending on the faculty.

UCT APS calculation

To calculate your APS, you will need to add your six best subject percentages (this will be a number out of 600).  Please note that this excludes Life Orientation but includes English and any subjects that are relevant to the programme you’re applying for.  

Applicants will need to meet the minimum APS in order to be considered for a specific programme.  The points you get for each course will depend on the percentage you score in that particular subject.  Please note that marks below 40% will not get any points.

Please note meeting the bare minimum requirement is not always enough to get you into your desired degree programme, so push hard to get the highest marks you possibly can.

Why do you even have to calculate an APS? Find out why an APS is so important and why institutions use them.

UCT FPS and WPS calculation

Here is a breakdown of UCT’s points calculation:

Each faculty at UCT has its own way of calculating the FPS and WPS, using the APS. You can find out more about this in UCT’s admission guidelines. UCT uses a Faculty Points Score (FPS), a Medical Points Score (MPS) and a Weighted Points Score (WPS) to assess your school performance.

Faculty Point Score (FPS): this is a measure used to rank applicants.  In some faculties (Health Sciences and Medicine), it is a combination of the APS and the NBT score and in other faculties (Commerce, Engineering, Humanities, and Law), it is the APS.
Weighted Points Score (WPS): this is the FPS weighted by a disadvantage factor applicable to the applicant.

Please Note: the WPS is only for South African applicants as it is a disadvantage factor.

You will be able to see how to calculate these scores below. Please make sure you check each faculty to calculate the right score.

Faculty of Commerce, Humanities, Engineering and Law

In these faculties, the FPS and the APS are the same. You will be able to find an example of how to calculate this score below:

Faculty of Health Sciences (MBChB)

For MBChB applicants:

A Medical Point Score (MedPS) is calculated out of 1000.  This is a combination of FPS (APS and NBTs) as well as Personal Report (any support of additional experience, attributes and experience).

To calculate your FPS in this faculty, you will need to add your APS and NBTs.  Please note that medical applicants will need to calculate their MedPS as part of the admission requirements.  South Africans, to calculate their WPS, you will need to adjust your FPS by a disadvantage factor.  Take a look at the example below:

For Health and Rehabilitation applicants:

Please note that qualifications in this faculty calculate an FPS out of 900.  Take a look at an example below:

Faculty of Science

To calculate the FPS in the faculty of Science, you will need to double your scores for Maths and Science.  The FPS is calculated out of 800.  Check out the example below:

This institution requires you to write a National Benchmark Test (NBT) as part of your application. Get on it now!

So now you know if you meet the minimum requirements according to UCT’s standards.  Remember this is a UCT score calculation.  The APS calculation differs from institution to institution so your score could differ significantly at other institutions.

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