General transfer criteria (all students)

The Faculty of Commerce requires students who want to be considered for transfer into the faculty to meet the criteria below. Please note that admission is competitive, and meeting the criteria below does not guarantee admission.

1. Meet the minimum entrance requirements for the Faculty of Commerce for the year of application as published in the Undergraduate Prospectus, based on results achieved in a school-leaving qualification (NSC or equivalent).
2. The annual GPA must be at a minimum of 60%, and no subject must be failed.The courses must be relevant and transferable to qualifications offered in the Commerce Faculty, via a process of credit and exemption.
3. The applicant must be able to finish a degree within the Commerce Faculty in the minimum time. This takes into consideration the number of years already taken within a bachelor's programme; for external applicants – the years at another university, and for internal applicants – the years in another faculty.
4. All transferring applicants must have valid National Benchmark Tests (NBTs) that meet the minimum requirements of the Commerce Faculty.

Please note: Transfers are not permitted into the Actuarial Science degree specialisations.

INTERNAL UCT TRANSFER only: How to apply for transfer to Commerce from another Faculty at UCT

UCT students who wish to apply for a transfer to the Faculty of Commerce for admission in Semester 1 of 2026 are required to submit their application through PeopleSoft – no email applications will be accepted!

1. Apply by uploading a Service Request on PeopleSoft – use the Curriculum Change Application; Change of Curriculum for a transfer to Commerce 
   Attach the following documents: 
   • A letter of motivation
2. ACA09 Application Form – complete an ACA09 Application for Change of Curriculum Form. Please specify the programme name and code for the degree you are seeking to transfer into. You do not need to engage with a Student Advisor.
3. Deadline: The deadline for submitting transfer applications is 09 January 2026. Applications received after this date will not be considered.
4. Outcome Notification: Applicants will be informed of the outcome by 06 February 2026.
5. All successful applicants are to be registered by 13 February 2026.

Process for students transferring from another University

An applicant from outside the University of Cape Town, currently enrolled at another University, who would like to transfer into the Commerce Faculty must apply through UCT's Online Admission System.

The deadline for transfer applications from another university is 31 July 2025. As part of the admission application, the applicant must declare that they have previously been registered at another university.

Equivalent Credits

Students who have previously studied at another university can be credited for courses deemed equivalent to UCT courses.

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

• Equivalent Credits - WITS
• Equivalent Credits - STELLENBOSCH
• Equivalent Credits - NMU
• Equivalent Credits - UNISA
• Equivalent Credits – Selected other universities (for first-year accounting only)

Entrance Exams (all students)

Some courses require you to write entrance exams to be admitted to the associated programme.

Accounting

To register for the second year accounting courses, eligible students who satisfy the faculty’s transferring criteria must write the ACC1011N Financial Reporting I entrance exam and obtain a result of at least 60%. Students who obtain a result of 50%-59% in the ACC1011N entrance exam will earn a CR for ACC1011S Financial Reporting I but will not be permitted to continue into the second year ACC courses. Noting that there is presently no equivalent to ACC1015 accepted from another university. It is therefore unlikely that a student is able to satisfy point 3. under General transfer criteria (above) for students to be able to transfer into an accounting programme from another university.

Graduates of other universities may consider the Advanced Diploma in Accounting, which replicates the final year BCom CA programme. Please refer to the latest Commerce Undergraduate Handbook for detailed admission criteria. Entrance exams for ACC2012W, ACC2018H, ACC2022H, and ACC2023H will be required.

Economics

All transferring undergraduate students (including those from international institutions) who want to continue with Economics must write an entrance exam on the first day of lectures in February.