South African National Certificate

The National Senior Certificate (NSC) is the school-leaving certificate in South Africa.

The University of Western Australia welcomes applications from students who have completed the NSC program. To be admitted to the University, you must:

  • satisfy the University's English language competence requirement by satisfactory performance in one of the English subjects detailed in the table below
  • achieve a sufficient number of points to be offered a place
  • satisfy any prerequisite subject requirements for your chosen course and major

Minimum entry scores

NSC students must meet equivalent entry standards to other applicants. The following table provides an overview of the points considered equivalent to various Australian Tertiary Admission Ranks.

Average ATAR Equivalent
4 75
4.6 80
5.2 85
5.6 88
5.8 90
6.0 to 6.1 92
6.3 94
6.5 96
6.8 98

Notes

  1. The average of the achievement level for the six best subjects (excluding Life Orientation) is taken as the average.
  2. Point conversion: 80-100%=7, 70-75%=6, 60-65%=5, 50-55%=4, 40-50%=3, 30-40%=2, 0-29%.
  3. For results obtained before 2008 contact Admissions.

Equivalent subjects

The following table shows NSC subject equivalents to WA Certificate of Education courses, which will satisfy course and major prerequisites.

WACE Subject NSC Equivalent
English English Home Language; Achievement Level 5 or higher
Mathematics Applications Mathematics; Achievement Level 3
Mathematics Methods Mathematics; Achievement Level 4 or higher 
Mathematics Specialist No equivalent
Chemistry Physical Sciences; Achievement Level 4 or higher 
Physics Physical Sciences; Achievement Level 4 or higher 
Biology Life Sciences; Achievement Level 4 or higher