Unisa is the biggest university in South Africa, and Africa, by the number of enrolled students. It allows those straight out of school, as well as those in full-time employment, to advance their studies via their distance learning model.
Some courses are already closed for applications for next year - while others are still open for late applications.
If you receive an offer letter from Unisa they will probably ask you to complete a first-time students MOOC test online. It is compulsory to complete this test before accepting your place to study at Unisa in 2026.
If you hear that people are receiving offers of places at Unisa and you haven't heard anything it doesn't mean that you won't be accepted. The process of going through all the applications and contacting everyone does take a while. So not everyone will hear at the same time. You will just need to wait a bit longer to hear back from Unisa if your course is a bit more popular and there were more applications.
Unisa Mooc Test Login!
Many students it can be a big change to start university studies. Either they are used to a school system which is more focused on memorising facts - or they've been out of the education system for many years.
Unisa want their students to do well so their Student Retention department worked on ideas to see how they could help their new students do well in their studies. They created the First-Year Experience Massive Open Online Course (sometimes called the FYE MOOC) which was a wa to help prepare new students for university life.
MOOC
If they are prepared for the type of courses and course-work they will be required to do for their degree and diploma studies, they will hopefully be more successful in their studies.
So now all first-year students at Unisa are required to complete the Massive Open Online Course, or MOOC, before they accept their offer of a place at UNISA for next year.
Login to MOOC test
If you want to finalise your course offer at Unisa you need to login with your used ID on the MOOC website before you complete the First-Year Experience FYE MOOC. This way your results can be matched to your application and your offer of a place for 2026.
You will only be able to confirm your study place for next year once you have completed the MOOC.
How To Complete The First-Year Experience MOOC:
1. Go to https://mooc.unisa.ac.za/portal
2. Click on "New Account". Under user ID, use your Unisa student number. (Make sure you use your Unisa student number as your User ID and not your SA ID number)
3. Once you are signed in, click on "Membership" to view the list of sites that can be joined.
4. Click on the "Join link" button to access the FYE MOOC.
5. Make sure you complete all the assessments located at the end of each session and submit them for grading.
6. Once you have completed the first year MOOC you will need to wait an hour before you can accept your study offer.
You an also watch a video on the First-Year Experience MOOC for full details on how to complete the MOOC for first-time applicants.
