National Benchmark Test NBT UWC

Besides these minimum requirements, faculties often have additional requirements which are linked to specific programme choices. For more information about these specific programme requirements consult the Admission Requirements webpage.

1. You may receive an early provisional offer of admission if you perform well on the tests;
2. You improve your chances of receiving an offer of an entrance scholarship if you perform well;
3. You may improve your chances of admission if you were on a waiting list.

If you do not have access to the internet, or encounter problems during the registration process, you may either call 021-650 3523 or send an email to nbt@uct.ac.za for assistance. The NBT Project helpline is staffed from 08:00 to 18:00 weekdays and from 07:30 to 11:30 on national test days.

AQL only R 80

AQL and MAT R160

Remark R250

Registration is valid only for the specific date and location you select and must be done at least three weeks prior to the desired test date. There is no late registration process. Should you miss the test for which you registered, you must register and pay again. Note that results are released only for paid tests.

Please Note:

You may write the NBTs at any test centre; all universities to which you apply can receive your results.

If required to write mathematics, you must write both tests on the same day.

You are allowed to write the NBTs a second time, but it is not permissible to write only MAT. The NBT Project will report both results, but some faculties only accept the first result.

The NBTs are intended to assess your competence in the language of instruction at tertiary level. The language policy where you intend to study will determine whether you write the NBTs in English or Afrikaans.

ACADEMIC LITERACY

Make meaning from text, typical to that encountered in tertiary studies;

• Understand vocabulary related to academic study, in context;

• Identify and track points and claims made in texts;

• Evaluate evidence used to support writers’ claims;

• Extrapolate and draw inferences and conclusions from text;

• Differentiate main from supporting ideas in the overall and specific organisation of a passage;

• Identify text differences that relate to writers’ purposes, audiences, and kinds of communication;

• Understand and interpret information that is presented visually (e.g. tables and flow-charts); and

• Understand basic numerical concepts and information used in text.

QUANTITATIVE LITERACY

Select and use a range of quantitative terms and phrases;

• Apply quantitative procedures in various situations;

• Formulate and apply formulae;

• Interpret tables, graphs, charts and text and integrate information from different sources;

• Do calculations involving multiple steps accurately;

• Identify trends and patterns in various situations;

• Apply properties of simple geometric shapes to determine measurements;

• Reason logically; and

• Interpret quantitative information presented verbally, symbolically, and graphically.

MATHEMATICS

Understand and apply properties of the real number system;

• Recognise and use patterns, including sequences and series;

• Apply relationships such as ratios and percentages in a variety of contexts;

• Use surds, logarithms and exponents in a variety of algebraic and numerical contexts, including solution of exponential equations and financial calculations;

• Carry out algebraic manipulations, apply these in the solution of equations and inequalities;

• Solve problems using mathematical process skills;

• Understand function concept and identify properties of functions, such as domain and range, in the context of straight lines, parabolas, hyperbolas, exponential and logarithmic graphs, and trigonometric graphs (sine, cosine, tangent);

• Identify relationships between graphs and their equations, or inequalities and the regions they describe;

• Interpret transformations of functions represented algebraically or graphically;

• Apply trigonometric concepts in solving problems;

• Understand and use trigonometric identities in solving equations;

• Understand properties and interpret representations of two-dimensional and three-dimensional shapes;

• Solve problems relating to perimeter, area, volume;

• Apply principles of analytic geometry;

• Interpret various representations and measures of data; and

• Use logical skills in making deductions and determining the validity of given assertions.

WHAT TIME ARE THE TESTS AND WHAT MUST I BRING WITH ME?

The AQL is written in the morning, and writers must be at the test venue by 07h30. The MAT is written in the afternoon on the same day as the AQL after a short lunch break. On the morning of the tests, you must bring:

• Your ID Book, passport, or certified receipt of application for South African ID.

• Two HB pencils, an eraser, and a pencil sharpener.

• Lunch and water, if you are writing both tests.

Note: Do not bring calculators, rulers or dictionaries.

The Mathematics test must be written by ALL UWC provisionally accepted applicants to programmes that require the Mathematics test (REFER to NBT’S required for specific UWC Faculties/Programmes). The Mathematics test is written in addition to the AQL test, and is held on the same day as the AQL test (with a short break between the two tests). Applicants may not register to write the AQL and Mathematics tests on different dates, as a single registration form is used for both tests. The only applicants who may register to write the Mathematics test without writing the AQL test, are those who have already written the AQL test for another university or faculty.