UCT students in other faculties: 2023 deadline to apply to transfer to Commerce

The deadline for transfer applicants is 31 January 2023. Applications received after the deadline will not be considered.  Application outcomes will be sent out by 6 February 2023.

Please note the process to follow when applying to transfer to Commerce:

  1. You must contact either the Faculty Office or a Student Advisor to transfer to Commerce (you will receive guidance on the process from the Faculty Office and academic advice from the Student Advisor).
  2. The Student Advisor will notify the Faculty Office of their support of your application. Go to the Student Advisors page for contact details for each discipline/department.
  3. You need to complete a Change of Curriculum ACA09 form 
  4. Send the completed ACA09 form and your transcript to comfm@uct.ac.za with the following title/subject line on your email: CAMPUSID Transfer application. The name of the Student Advisor you consulted must be included in the body of the e-mail.
  5. The Faculty Manager and the Deputy Dean have the final authority to approve or reject the transfer.

General transfer criteria

You will be considered based on your school-leaving results and your higher education results. Generally, you must have a good academic record and must submit an academic transcript with your application, or as soon as it is available.

The Faculty of Commerce requires students wishing to transfer into the Faculty (either from within UCT or from other universities) to meet the following criteria:

  • Meet the minimum school subject and points requirements for Commerce.
  • Have a good academic record acceptable to the Faculty. It is unlikely that students who have failed one or more courses will be accepted. Particular attention will be paid to courses relevant to degrees in the Faculty and the proposed programme.
  • All transferring applicants must write the National Benchmark Tests (NBTs). There are two tests - Academic Literacy and Quantitative Literacy (AQL) and Mathematics (MAT). If you have written in the past 3 years, the test scores are valid.

Application for Credit Exemption

Please complete the following form to apply for course credits and exemptions:

The following list contains the various courses that are recognised at UCT for degree purposes:

ENTRANCE EXAMS for transferring students

To register for ACC2012W Financial Reporting II, eligible students must write the ACC2011N Financial Reporting I entrance exam and obtain a result of at least 60%. Students who obtain a result of 50%-59% in the ACC2011N entrance exam will earn a CR for ACC2011S Financial Reporting I, but will not be permitted to continue into ACC2012W Financial Reporting II. Students can typically choose to write the entrance exam in either November or January.

Only graduates of other universities applying to postgraduate programmes that require final year accounting courses to be done at UCT are eligible to write the ACC2012N Financial Reporting II entrance exam. If they obtain a result of at least 60%, they may be accepted into ACC3009W/3020W as part of the bridging year. Any student who wishes to obtain an undergraduate degree from UCT in a programme with an Accounting major is required to complete ACC2012W (as well as ACC3009W/3020W) at UCT. Only if they have completed the second-year financial accounting course at an accredited university is it unnecessary to write the ACC2011N entrance exam to gain admission into ACC2012W.

Process for students transferring from outside UCT

The student who wishes to obtain credits for University courses successfully completed elsewhere is required to do the following:

  • UNIVERSITIES AND COURSES LISTED ABOVE:
    - Standard credits awarded are listed on the Faculty Website. Your UCT student adviser will be able to approve the credits and credit exemptions for these courses.
  • ALL OTHER UNIVERSITIES AND COURSES:
    - The student is required to liaise with the course convenor of the course for which he/ she is applying for credits and/ or exemption. Student advisers can let you know the course convenor’s contact details.
    - The student is required to send the convenor the course outline and final exam paper, as well as their transcript.
    - The student is required to complete an ACA36 credit and exemption request form and have this signed off by the relevant course convenors and programme convenor.

Other than South African Qualifications

Your application will be assessed individually. If you have not completed Mathematics in your final year of schooling, you will not be considered.

  • LEVEL / AS – LEVEL/ O– LEVEL

    Bachelor of Business Science

    • Applicants must have at least an A- Level D or AS – level C in Mathematics.
    • Applicants must have at least A-Level E or AS- Level D or O – level B in English.


    Bachelor of Commerce

    • Applicants must have at least an A– Level D or AS – level C in Mathematics.
    • Applicants must have at least A-Level E or AS– Level D or O – level B in English.


    Bachelor of Business Science – Actuarial Science

    • Applicants must have at least an A– Level A in Mathematics.
    • Applicants must have at least A-Level C or AS– Level C or O – level A in English.
  • HIGCSE AND IGCSE

    Bachelor of Business Science

    • Applicants must have HIGCSE level Grade 3 in Mathematics.
    • Applicants must have HIGCSE level 3 or IGCSE B in English.


    Bachelor of Commerce

    • Applicants must have HIGCSE level Grade 3 in Mathematics.
    • Applicants must have HIGCSE level 3 or IGCSE B in English.


    Bachelor of Business Science – Actuarial Science

    • Applicants must have HIGCSE level Grade 1 in Mathematics.
    • Applicants must have HIGCSE level Grade 3 IGCSE A in English.
  • SAT RESULTS

    • SAT I score of 1050 or more with sub minima of 500 for both the Verbal and Mathematics score or
    • STAII score of 1050 or more for English and one of Physics or Chemistry with sub-minimum of 500 for either the English or Physics or the Chemistry score

Holders of other qualifications are considered individually. A Scholastic Aptitude score of 625 for mathematics and Verbal is required of holders of USA school-leaving certificates. IB Mathematical Studies at a subsidiary level will not be accepted.