Most universities open in March or April of your Grade 12 year and close between June and November. The early ones catch people out: UP closed on 30 June 2026, UCT and Stellenbosch on 31 July, before most learners had their June results back.

The dates Scenda has verified

These were read from each institution's own site in August 2026. Where a date is not listed here, we have not verified it and you should confirm it on the institution's site.

  • 30 June 2026: UP, all programmes. Wits health sciences, architecture and film.
  • 31 July 2026: UCT, Stellenbosch (general programmes), TUT, SMU.
  • 31 August 2026: NWU, CPUT.
  • 30 September 2026: Wits (other programmes), UFS (most programmes), NMU, UWC, UKZN, Rhodes, DUT, MUT, UniZulu, CUT, UFH, UL, Univen.
  • 31 October 2026: UJ, SPU, VUT, WSU.
  • 30 November 2026: UMP.
  • Not yet verified: UNISA, Stellenbosch health sciences, UWC Dentistry, UKZN Medicine.

The APS checker and your Tertiary section on Scenda show these same statuses next to each institution, so a closed one is never chosen by accident.

Three things a date list does not show

Programme deadlines are often earlier. Medicine, dentistry, veterinary science and some health and education programmes close before the institution's general date. UFS health sciences closed on 31 May; Wits health sciences on 30 June.

Residence usually closes with the academic application. If you want a bed, tick it on the first form. Most portals will not let you add it later.

Late windows are not promises. Some institutions open a short late window for programmes with space. Space runs out fastest in engineering, health and IT. If you are relying on one, phone admissions first and ask which programmes still have seats.

If you have missed a deadline

  1. Apply to what is still open. In October that is UJ, SPU, VUT and WSU; in November, UMP.
  2. Look at TVET colleges, which run a later calendar, often into January, and are funded by NSFAS on the same rules.
  3. UNISA is a public university with lower floors, later dates and NSFAS funding. Passing a UNISA higher certificate or first year is a recognised route into a contact university the following year.
  4. NSFAS and bursary deadlines are separate from institution deadlines. Missing UP does not mean missing NSFAS.

The gap year that is not a gap

If you end up with nothing for 2027, do three things in January: register for the Department of Basic Education's Second Chance programme to rewrite the subject holding your APS down, apply for a TVET semester starting mid-year, and apply for 2028 the day applications open in March. A learner who does that arrives in 2028 with a higher APS and a certificate.