Although it seems a long way away, you need to educate yourselves about entrance requirements for university or college courses that you might be interested in, and know now how tertiary institutions calculate AP scores.

What is an AP Score?

The AP score is the Admission Point Score. It is calculated by most institutions using the level descriptors which can be found on a learner's school report.

Using these codes tertiary institutions arrive at a number which becomes the minimum entry requirement for a particular course.

• It is important to note that the way an AP score is calculated varies from institution to institution.

• Some courses have additional requirements to be met over and above the AP score, like a minimum mark in English, Mathematics or Physical Sciences, a National Benchmark test to be completed, or a portfolio of work to be submitted.

• Some institutions award bonus points for higher English and Mathematics results.

• Not all universities treat Life Orientation in the same way: some ignore it, others halve the mark for the AP score, others give LO the same point score as other subjects, and some institutions require a minimum of 60% for LO

Some other important considerations

1. Without a core Mathematics mark above 60%, a university course that requires core Mathematics (like Engineering, Science or Accounting) is probably out of a learner’s reach.

2. A mark below 40% does not add any points to a learner’s AP score at Wits.

3. On Wits’s current AP calculator, a learner with all 7 subjects at 60% obtains an AP score of 35. Entry into Wits’ s BA Humanities course requires 34-36 points.

4. To be able to get into a basic university course requires that all your marks are above 60% (or a permutation of this).

5. To have the luxury of a choice of degree courses requires marks in the 70s, 80s and 90s.

6. Except for English, Mathematics and Physical Sciences most courses do not require that a learner has taken specific subjects. The first step to gaining entry is to reach the required AP score – the subjects do not matter

7. This means that a learner needs to choose subjects with a view to maximising his AP score.

8. Meeting the minimum AP score for a course does not guarantee an applicant a place in that course. UJ and Wits tell us that they receive between 10-14 applications for every space they have available. This means that learners need to achieve above the minimum AP score for a course in order to be considered.