How to Apply to the University of Pretoria

How to apply

Before continuing please read the admission requirements of the University of Pretoria.

Please ensure that you meet the admission requirements before applying.

It is in your best interest to complete your own application. The University of Pretoria does not make use of representatives, agents or agencies during the application process. If you choose to make use of representatives, agents or agencies, you do so at own risk.
The closing dates are non-negotiable. It is your responsibility to ensure you apply before the applicable deadline!
It is of utmost importance that you provide your correct personal email and postal addresses to enable the University of Pretoria to communicate with you directly.

Persons with disabilities:

The online application system provides the facility for an applicant to disclose his/her disability status. Applicants are encouraged to make use of this facility to disclose their disability status at this point in the application process. Such a disclosure will in no way prejudice an application. Disclosing your disability status enables the University of Pretoria to better anticipate the needs arising from these disabilities.

Applying via Online Application

Please be informed that payment of your online application, is not the final step. You still need to click on “VERIFY” and “APPLY”.Important note: It is the responsibility of the applicant to upload required supporting .pdf documents. It is also the responsibility of the applicant to verify and finally click on “apply” to submit an online application. The online application system is not intended for use by students presently registered and studying at the University of Pretoria. Please contact your Faculty should you wish to change to another field of study or if you wish to pursue a different degree. Important! If you have not clicked on VERIFY and APPLY as your last two steps, your application has not officially been submitted to the University of Pretoria.

International Students/ Non South African Citizens:
This online application is for full degree seeking students. If you form part of the following categories: Exchange, Elective or Study Abroad, please do not make use of this online application.

Kindly contact: International Student Division (ISD) via email: isd@up.ac.za and click here for more information about these categories.

Before starting the application process, please:

Review the checklist at the end of this document, to take notice of all pre-requisites. You will need to have certain information ready, as well as certain supporting documents available electronically, without which you will not be able to complete your online application.

You will only be able to submit your online application once you have:

Completed the full online application form, AND
Uploaded all the necessary scanned supporting documents in .pdf format, AND
Either paid the application fee by credit card OR uploaded proof of bank deposit at Standard Bank, Account Number 012602604 (see checklist).
If you have not clicked APPLY, your form has not been submitted.

Once your application has been successfully submitted after you have clicked VERIFY and APPLY:

You will no longer be able to do any further editing of your application via the Online Application system.
You will be informed by email what your allocated student number (EMPLID) is.
You will also be sent other important procedures describing how to check your progress and application results on the student portal.

STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE FOR ONLINE APPLICATION

Checklist for Online Application

BROWSER REQUIREMENTS: IMPORTANT! This site requires Internet Explorer (IE) version 7 or 8 or higher browsers.

DATA INPUTS: When you access the Online Application you will be requested to provide an email address to which UP can send communications.

Please take care not to make typing errors when providing your email address.
If you require a brand new email address, create a new gmail email address

As part of the application process you will be required to capture your South African National ID number or, if you are an international applicant, your Passport number.

You will later need to scan your ID/Passport document so that it is available to be uploaded.

When you start using the Online Application you will be requested to indicate the “Career” for which you are applying.

If you have never studied before or have not obtained any degree yet (new first year students), please select Undergraduate career.
If you have already obtained one or more degree/s, please select Postgraduate career.

If you are applying as an undergraduate applicant for the first time, you will need to capture the details of your School and School results, which could be either of the following:

Your year-end Grade 11 marks, or
If you have already completed Grade 12, your final Grade 12 results.
You will later need to scan schools results so that it is available to be uploaded.

Warning: When you get to the screen where you are requested to capture the marks, please ensure that you capture your marks/symbols accurately and in the sequence as reflected on your school document. If you record your marks incorrectly, the University reserves the right to reject or revoke your admission.

If you are applying to study towards a postgraduate degree, you will be requested to capture the details of your previous degree(s), eg Degree description, institution and year of graduation.

A comprehensive certified academic record will need to be scanned and uploaded, as well as a certificate of conduct.
Faculties may later require additional and/or original documents, depending on their specific admission requirements.

SCANNING AND UPLOADING OF SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS: You must – either yourself or via third parties eg certain camera/photographic shops – be able to scan each of the requested documents into separate files using a “PDF” file format. Refer to “Guidelines for preparing documents to be uploaded“. Ensure to save with Acrobat or CutePDF and not Acrobat Reader.

Convert any document to PDF to upload on your application.

You will later need to have these “PDF” files available on some form of electronic media (eg data disk, memory stick or your desktop) from which you can upload the necessary files as may be required during the application process.

The University of Pretoria reserves the right to reject or revoke your admission if you provide incorrect, incomplete, illegible or fake documents.

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER I HAVE APPLIED?

After your application has been processed you will receive communication from the University of Pretoria, explaining how to access your Student Centre through the UP Student Portal, enabling you to track your progress and status, as well as other communications and possible outstanding items. Some applications for specialised fields might only be processed after the official closing date.

ALLOCATION OF YOUR STUDENT NUMBER: If you have applied Online, you will receive a student number in your email inbox within approximately 15 working days after submission. Paper applications may take longer to process. You cannot access the student portal with your application number. Once you have a student number, you may create a profile as a new user on the portal.

INFORMATION ON UNIVERSITY BURSARIES / FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE: Information on the application and allocation process will be sent to successful students by September. Candidates who are admitted after December should make enquiries at the Client Service Centre. The closing date for bursary or loan applications is 31 October. For comprehensive information please go to Fees and Funding.
Postgraduate students are automatically considered for a UP Postgraduate Scholarship if they have enrolled before 31 May in the year of study. Scholarship awards are subject to approval by the Research Committee and are not guaranteed. Preference is given to students who enrol for a research Masters or Doctoral programme.