In South Africa, there are a few levels of qualification that a student can achieve post-matric.
First and foremost, the NSC is awarded for having achieved the bare minimum that one would need to pass their matric year and it allows the student to pursue a number of post-school opportunities such as entry-level employment, learnership and internship admissions, and college and university admission.
With the NSC, there are the following types of passes available.
How To Get A Higher Certificate Pass
The Higher Certificate Pass which allows the student to attain a Higher Certificate. Study programmes for a Higher Certificate are predominantly vocational, meaning that they relate to a particular occupation or set of skills, with the course material being industry-oriented. At a later stage, the student would be able to apply for a higher qualification such as an Advanced Diploma.
How To Get A Diploma Pass
The Diploma Pass which allows the student to pursue further studies in diploma courses at schools for technology (also known as technikons) and TVET Colleges .There are various diploma options, including an advanced diploma and a national diploma.
How To Get A Bachelors Pass
The final pass option is the Bachelor’s Pass. This grants the student the opportunity to complete a degree at an institution of their choice, ranging from technikons to colleges and universities.
To attain a Bachelor’s Pass, the student must achieve at least 40% for a Home Language subject, at least 50% for four other High Credit subjects (i.e. languages, history, business studies, accounting, visual arts, etc), and at least 30% for two other subjects.
A student that decides to pursue further education with a Bachelor’s Pass would be granted the opportunity to pursue a full-time or part-time undergraduate degree, which upon completion would allow for the student to pursue postgraduate studies if they met the necessary requirements.
What is most important to note is that the student has a multitude of options available to them if they are able to attain a bachelor’s pass by the end of their matric year, which will aid their post-matric journey as they shall not be limited by their qualification
