Are you interested in studying at the University of Cape Town (UCT)? One of the need-to-knows before sending off your application form to UCT is the APS calculation.
Know Your UCT Admission Point Score (APS)
One thing is certain about when to get your APS, that is you need to get your APS (Admission Point Score) mark before you can apply for a course at a university (South Africa).
- First, you have to have your final Matric examination certificate.
- Your top 7 Matric subject’s marks are changed into a point system that works out your APS; To calculate your APS, you’ll need to add your six best subjects, excluding Life Orientation
The points you get for each course will depend on the percentage you score in that particular subject. The APS score is the total points you receive from each course
Meeting the bare minimum requirement is not always enough to get you into your desired degree programme, so push hard to get the highest marks you possibly can.
Don’t forget that some courses require you to submit other requirements (e.g. portfolio of work, audition or interview). It’s important for you to check with the faculty what they require from you.
UCT FPS and WPS Calculation
Here is a breakdown of UCT’s points calculation:
Each faculty at UCT has its own way of calculating the FPS and WPS, using the APS. You can find out more about this in UCT’s admission guidelines. UCT uses a Faculty Points Score (FPS), a Medical Points Score (MPS) and a Weighted Points Score (WPS) to assess your school performance.
Faculty Point Score (FPS): this is a measure used to rank applicants. In some faculties (Health Sciences and Medicine), it is a combination of the APS and the NBT score and in other faculties (Commerce, Engineering, Humanities, and Law), it is the APS.
Weighted Points Score (WPS): this is the FPS weighted by a disadvantage factor applicable to the applicant.
Please Note: the WPS is only for South African applicants as it is a disadvantage factor.
You will be able to see how to calculate these scores below. Please make sure you check each faculty to calculate the right score.
Faculty of Commerce, Humanities, Engineering, and Law
In these faculties, the FPS and the APS are the same. You will be able to find an example of how to calculate this score below:
Faculty of Health Sciences (MBChB)
For MBChB applicants:
A Medical Point Score (MedPS) is calculated out of 1000. This is a combination of FPS (APS and NBTs) as well as Personal Report (any support of additional experience, attributes and experience).
To calculate your FPS in this faculty, you will need to add your APS and NBTs. Please note that medical applicants will need to calculate their MedPS as part of the admission requirements. South Africans, to calculate their WPS, you will need to adjust your FPS by a disadvantage factor. (See the example below);
For Health and Rehabilitation applicants:
Please note that qualifications in this faculty calculate an FPS out of 900. Take a look at an example below:
Faculty of Science
To calculate the FPS in the faculty of Science, you will need to double your scores for Maths and Science. The FPS is calculated out of 800. (See the example below);
