UNISA Master’s and Doctoral Degrees Admissions 2018 – 2019

By | September 16, 2021
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UNISA Master’s and Doctoral Degrees Admissions 2018 – 2019

Who must apply?

  • Everyone wanting to start a new master’s or doctoral degree must apply for admission. This includes
  • You must re-apply for admission if you previously applied for admission to a master’s or doctoral degree and received feedback, but did not register for any reason.
  • You must re-apply for admission if you are a previously registered master’s or doctoral student, but did not register for the 2019academic year and now wish to continue with master’s or doctoral studies in 2018. This excludes students who applied for and were granted a formal deferment.

You may apply for the following qualifications outside the prescribed application dates:

College of Science, Engineering and Technology (excluding Computing students) Please contact the Master’s and Doctoral Administration Section for assistance (012 441 5702; [email protected]).
Decision Sciences Please contact the Master’s and Doctoral Administration Section for assistance (012 441 5702; [email protected]).
Master of Science in Nature Conservation (full dissertation) (98022) Please contact the Master’s and Doctoral Administration Section for assistance (012 441 5702; [email protected]).
Selection degrees Selection degrees have different closing dates for applications and are administered by the respective academic departments. Only a limited number of students are selected per academic year.

Selections for most master’s and doctoral degrees will take place during December 2019and January 2018. The Master’s and Doctoral Administrative Section will inform applicants during February 2019of the outcome of their application.

1. Apply for a student number

Who must apply for a Unisa student number?

  • You must apply for a Unisa student number if you have never before studied towards a formal qualification at Unisa. Student numbers issued for Unisa’s short learning programmes are not valid for formal qualifications. Your formal Unisa student number will be your permanent Unisa student number.
  • If you are applying for admission to a Graduate School of Business Leadership (SBL) qualification, please apply for a Unisa student number, unless you previously studied at Unisa towards a formal qualification.
  • If you are applying for admission to a selection degree, you must apply for a Unisa student number if you have never before studied towards a formal qualification at Unisa. If you do not have a formal Unisa student number and are selected for admission to one of the selection degrees, you will not be able to register for the 2019academic year. Please ensure that you apply for a Unisa student number, apply for admission and upload all the supporting documents.

Please note:

  • You do not need re-apply for a student number if you already have a student number for a formal qualification.
  • No application for admission to the 2019academic year will be processed without a valid student number.
  • An application for a Unisa student number is NOT an application for admission to a qualification.

How to apply for a Unisa student number

  • Apply online for a student number for a formal qualification at Unisa.
  • Pay the non-refundable application fee of R105,00 (some exceptions may apply). Your application for a student number will only be finalised upon receipt of the application fee. The application fee is non-refundable even if you decide not to study through Unisa or do not qualify for admission to your qualification of choice.
  • Upload a copy of your ID / passport.

Pay the application fee

Pay the online application fee of R105,00. Please note that the application fee is non-refundable even if you decide not to study through Unisa or do not qualify for admission to Unisa.



Unisa does not accept cash at any of its offices. You may, however, deposit cash into the university’s Standard Bank account:

  • Payment information for students living in South Africa
  • Payment information for international students (Please e-mail your proof of SWIFT payment to([email protected])
    • International students must pay fees via SWIFT payment:
      • Beneficiary: Unisa student deposits
      • Standard Bank
      • Account number: 011554622
      • Branch code: 010645
      • SWIFT code: SBZAZAJJ
    • Your local bank may charge a service fee for international payments. Please ensure that you include this service fee in the total amount paid.
    • Remember to always include your student number and the appropriate allocation as your payment reference when making payments to Unisa.

2. Apply for admission

Who should apply for admission?

  • Everyone wanting to start a new master’s or doctoral degree must apply for admission. This includes
    • first-time Unisa applicants
    • Unisa students changing to a new qualification
    • applicants in their final year of a postgraduate diploma, honours degree or master’s degree who wish to continue with further postgraduate studies
  • You must re-apply for admission if you previously applied for admission to a master’s or doctoral degree and received feedback, but did not register for any reason.
  • You must re-apply for admission if you are a previously registered master’s or doctoral student, but did not register for the 2019academic year and now wish to continue with master’s or doctoral studies in 2018. This excludes students who applied for and were granted a formal deferment.

Check your documents & confirm that you are ready to apply

  I am sure that…

  • I have a valid Unisa student number for a formal qualification.
  • I have chosen the correct Unisa qualification.
  • I have prepared a research outline in line with the departmental focus area requirements (applicable to all qualifications, except for coursework LLM, MBA and MBL qualifications). A research outline describes your intended research and comprises a two to five page expression of interest essay describing the following:
    • Topic
    • Short literature review
    • Potential contribution of the study
    • Potential unit of analysis
    • Research context (include the method you plan on using)
    • Personal motivation to pursue studies on this topic
    • List of references (using the Harvard referencing method, the “APA” referencing method or any other referencing methods indicated by the department)
    • CV and any additional documents as indicated in the admission requirements for the specific qualification under the departmental focus area requirements
  • I meet the statutory and college admission requirements for my qualification of choice.
  • I have a valid e-mail address and I accept that Unisa will communicate with me during the application process using this e-mail address.

  I have the following documents scanned & uploaded to an electronic device

You must upload all the necessary supporting documents as part of the online application process. E-mailed documents will not be accepted. You will have 10 working days from when you apply to upload your supporting documents. The 10 days do not apply after the closing date for applications.

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Please note: If you do not upload the necessary supporting documents within 10 working days of submitting your application for admission, your application will be declined. You will then need to re-apply for admission and upload the necessary supporting documents before the closing date for applications should you wish to be considered for admission to the 2019academic year.

  • Copies of all official academic records, including all papers / modules passed, percentages obtained and the ledger.
  • A copy of your ID or passport.
  • A research outline, CV and any additional documents as indicated in the admission requirements for the specific qualification under the departmental focus area requirements.

  I am sure that my documents are scanned according to the rules

  • Each document must be uploaded as a separate file.
  • Maximum number of files allowed: 5.
  • Files are not larger than 2MB (2048KB) each.
  • Only black and white documents may be submitted.
  • Only the following file types are allowed: PDF (Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format file), DOC (Word document file) or TIF (image file).

How to apply for admission

  • Complete and submit your application online.
    Please note: Please do not submit supporting documents if your application for the 2019academic year has already been declined. Applicants who did not submit the required supporting documents within 10 days of applying will not be considered for the 2019academic year.
  • Upload all the necessary supporting documents as part of the online application process.

Please note:



  • Academic departments have different dates on which selection for master’s and doctoral degrees will take place. Selections for most master’s and doctoral degrees will take place during December 2019and January 2018. The Master’s and Doctoral Administrative Section will inform applicants during February 2019of the outcome of their application.
  • No late or incomplete applications will be considered.

See Also:

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