The Matric class have now received their results, as the IEB, SACAI and the public school results have all been released.
For learners who have received a Bachelors pass they may be hoping to secure a place at university this year. However there is always a struggle for this group as demand outstrips supply.
There are only a little over 200,000 places available each year for first-year university students. For the class of 2025 Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwrube announced that 345,000 candidates had achieved Bachelors passes in their Matrics.
While this already shows that there is very limited supply of university spaces compared to the number who qualify for admission, things are worse than this as each year there are additional applications from those who passed Matric in previous years.
South African universities receive more than 1 million applications for study each year, so securing a space is very difficult.
In previous years SA universities receive the finalised Matric results from the Basic Education Department a few days before they were officially released. This allowed them to process the information, compare it to the applications they'd received, and calculate which students were accepted to their courses.
Unfortunately because of a data breach last year the system has been tightened up. So universities only received the matric results 24 hours before they were officially released. So all universities are taking longer than usual to finalise offers of places.
The University of Stellenbosch explained to applicants, "Considering the processing time required to prepare application outcomes and communication, and to ensure the quality and accuracy of the process, Stellenbosch University will release official final offer letters to applicants from 14th January 2026."
This graphic outlines the new dates that applicants will hear if they have secured a university space.
Total applications across universities
• For the 2024 academic year, universities collectively received around 4.5 million applications for study entry.
• For the 2025 year, data shows universities processed nearly 5 million applications from prospective students.
These totals include multiple programme choices by the same applicant as applicants will usually apply for a first choice as well as a second and possibly third choice.
Examples from individual universities (2025/2026 intake)
• University of Johannesburg (UJ) reported more than 400 000 people applied, submitting over 760 000 study choices for 2025.
• University of Johannesburg also reported 450 000 applicants submitting 870 000 study choices for 2026.
• University of Cape Town (UCT) received 98 844–102 000 applications for 2025/2026 entry.
• University of the Free State (UFS) had 240 000 applications and Central University of Technology (CUT) had 324 000 applications in one recent year.
• University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) saw 290 600 applications for the 2025 intake.
What these numbers mean
Because students often submit multiple applications or study choices, the total number of applications can exceed the number of individual applicants. But even when counting unique individual applicants, universities often see hundreds of thousands per institution and millions nationwide each year.
