Varsity College Admission Requirements



 Varsity College Admission Requirements

Please refer to the detail below for the requirements for admission to The Independent Institute of Education’s (The IIE’s) (Pty) Ltd higher education learning programmes. Additional admission requirements may apply to some academic programmes. Details will be in the fact sheet provided for each relevant programme.

  • A NSC with Higher Certificate admission – A minimum of 30% for English is required; OR
  • A NC(V) with Higher Certificate admission – A minimum of 40% in English on either First Additional Language or Home Language level, with a minimum of 30% in Maths or Maths Literacy, a minimum of 40% in Life Orientation and a minimum of 50% in four vocational subjects; OR
  • A SC (without endorsement) or equivalent – A minimum of 5 subjects must be passed.

Additional admission requirements apply to students with a School of Tomorrow (SOT) Certificate. Contact your nearest campus for more information.

Mature Age Exemption:



  • Candidates must have attempted Matric/Grade 12, reached the age of 23 before or during the first year of registration with three years’ work experience and a proven ability relating to the proposed programme as well as adequate communicative skills; OR
  • Candidates must have reached the age of 45 before or during the first year of registration.
  • A NSC with Higher Certificate admission – A minimum of 30% for English and two (2) other subjects, coupled with a minimum of 40% for three (3) NSC subjects; OR
  • A NC(V) with Higher Certificate admission – A minimum of 40% in English on either First Additional Language or Home Language level, with a minimum of 30% in Maths or Maths Literacy, a minimum 40% in Life Orientation and a minimum of 50% in four (4) vocational subjects; OR
  • A SC (without endorsement) or equivalent – A minimum of five (5) subjects must be passed.

Additional admission requirements apply to students with a School of Tomorrow (SOT) Certificate. Contact your nearest campus for more information.

Mature Age Exemption:

  • Candidates must have attempted Matric/Grade 12, reached the age of 23 before or during the first year of registration with three years’ work experience and a proven ability relating to the proposed programme as well as adequate communicative skills; OR
  • Candidates must have reached the age of 45 before or during the first year of registration.
  • A NSC with Diploma admission – A minimum of 30% for English coupled with a minimum of 40% for four (4) x 20 credit subjects; OR
  • A NC(V) with Diploma admission – A minimum of 50% in English on either First Additional Language or Home Language level AND Mathematics or Mathematical Literacy AND Life Orientation – a minimum of 60% in the three (3) compulsory vocational subjects is required; OR
  • A SC (without endorsement) or equivalent – A minimum of five (5) subjects must be passed; OR
  • A Higher Certificate, an Advanced Certificate in a cognate field; OR

Additional admission requirements apply to students with a School of Tomorrow (SOT) Certificate. Contact your nearest campus for more information.

Mature Age Exemption:



  • Candidates must have attempted Matric/Grade 12, reached the age of 23 before or during the first year of registration with three years’ work experience and a proven ability relating to the proposed programme as well as adequate communicative skills; OR
  • Candidates must have reached the age of 45 before or during the first year of registration.
  • A NSC with Degree admission – A minimum of 30% for English coupled with a minimum of 50% for four (4) DESIGNATED NSC subjects. (This excludes LO which is a 10 credit subject but includes English); OR
  • A NC(V) with Degree admission – A minimum of 60% in English on either First Additional Language or Home Language level AND Mathematics or Mathematical Literacy AND Life Orientation , with a minimum of 70% in the four (4) compulsory vocational subjects; OR
  • A SC (with endorsement) or equivalent; OR
  • A Higher Certificate, Advanced Certificate or 240 or 360 credit Diploma in a cognate discipline.
  • Additional admission requirements apply to students with a School of Tomorrow (SOT) Certificate.
  • Additional requirements apply to The IIE Bachelor of Commerce in Economics, Bachelor of Commerce in Law, Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Accounting. Please contact your nearest campus for more information.

Mature Age Exemption:

  • Candidates having reached the age of 23 before or during the first year of registration with a senior certificate or equivalent with a minimum of 40% in at least four (4) higher or standard grade subjects, at least three (3) of which must have been passed simultaneously and one must be a recognised higher grade subject; OR
  • Candidates must have reached the age of 45 before or during the first year of registration.
  • An appropriate Bachelor’s Degree; OR
  • An appropriate Advanced Diploma, provided that a 360 credit Diploma OR appropriate equivalent has been completed. An appropriate degree would be a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) or Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) or equivalent qualification(s), with one of the management disciplines at NQF Level 7.

Please Note:

  • Candidates are normally required to have a minimum final year average of 60% in their third-year modules (NQF L7) for the aforementioned prerequisite qualification. Those with a final year average of 58 or 59% may be considered but will be conditionally admitted.
  • Candidates must have completed a foundation research module at the undergraduate level, preferably at NQF Level 7. Those who have not completed a foundation research module at undergraduate level will be required to do The IIE Introduction to Research SLP and to demonstrate an understanding of basic research before they can commence their research report.
  • Graduates of The IIE who do not meet the conditional admissions requirements for admission to Honours can enrol for and repeat all or some of their NQF Level 7 modules in order to improve their marks so that they can meet the entry requirements for Honours. These graduate students will then receive an additional transcript after the completion of the repeat module(s), where the repeat module(s) will appear as a second iteration of the module(s) on the transcript. The marks from the second iteration can then be used for admission to Honours in the subsequent academic year. This option is only available to graduates from The IIE and does not apply to graduates from other HE institutions.

RPL: Candidates who fall outside the above criteria, but who can demonstrate, to the satisfaction of The IIE that they have an appropriate, related qualification or work-based learning, which has taken the candidate to the equivalent of an NQF Level 7 Marketing, Branding or Communication-related qualification, may be considered for admission into this programme through an RPL process.

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