All undergraduate applicants who are a resident or at school in South Africa (including non-South African citizens) must write the NBTs in Academic Literacy, Quantitative Literacy and Mathematics. The results of the NBTs are not taken into account for admission for the Faculty of Engineering & the Built Environment but must be written. For more details on the NBTs, please see www.nbt.ac.za for details

No, EGD subjects are not required for the application.

Applicants are required to achieve a minimum of 50% or more for English and 50% or more, for pure Mathematics in order for the application to be considered. Note that Mathematics Literacy is not considered for this application. For South African students, the absolute minimum Faculty Point Score (FPS) for applications to be considered, is 348 or above. The minimum Weighted Point Score (WPS) for students writing the NSC is 408 or above.

Physics is not an academic requirement. The required academic subjects are English and pure Mathematics. Mathematics Literacy is not considered for this application

The programme receives about 1300 applications annually, but placement is very competitive. To avoid disappointment, applicants are encouraged to apply to as many tertiary institutions as possible since the competition for admission is so high.

Learners must apply when they are in Grade 12. The application does require the submission of the grade 11 academic results as well as grade 12, so grade 11 is equally important. 

Applications open in April. 

Yes, but students will have to comply with the rules and requirements of the respective countries that pertain to recognition

Yes, the portfolio must be submitted digitally as one pdf file to bas.portfolios@uct.ac.za It is important to note that the application consists of two parts, the formal UCT application as well as the portfolio. If either of components are not submitted the application will be considered as incomplete.

The UCT application process for all applications close on the 31 July. The portfolio has a submission date of the 31 July of every year. No late applications or late portfolios will be considered.

Applicants need to successfully complete the Bachelor of Architectural Studies programme which has a duration of 3 years. Upon completion applicants, apply for the Bachelor of Architectural Studies Honours programme which has a duration of 1 year. Part of the application for the BAS(Hons) programme is a six-month work experience. As a result, students do not automatically go directly from Undergraduate studies to Honours. Once Honours is completed, students apply for the 1 year Master of Architecture Professional. Upon completion, graduates register with the South African Council for the Architectural Profession to undertake the professional candidacy examination after two years of working. Once this full process is successfully completed you are considered a professional Architect.      

The programme is very competitive, the decision to select successful applicants would be up to the selection committee. Both the portfolio and the academic results are equally important. There are certain criteria the selection committee looks for in an application.

No, Art is not a requirement and does not necessarily give applicants an advantage when it comes to completing the portfolio. The portfolio is a required drawing exercise with a specific selection of drawing tasks and creative exercises that is designed to showcase a specific set of techniques, creative ability and thinking, initiative, design ability and thinking, academic ability and motivation. Many successful applicants have never done art formally as a subject.   

Supplementary work is optional if applicants wish to include additional drawing or design items to show the committee. The important, compulsory information for the portfolio is the completion and submission of the six required drawing exercises and the motivation. It is important to also include the rough work/brainstorming exercise that illustrates the design process of how applicants got to the end product of each task. This needs to be well presented and organised.  

After completing the BAS degree alone, graduates can become Architectural Technicians or Draughts persons. The degree opens up many other different career and study paths in various other fields.

When applicants make the formal UCT application, they will be prompted to indicate whether they wish to apply for Housing. This process is managed separately by the UCT Housing Office and the department has no influence on the decision. 

There are funding opportunities available and applicants can make application through the Undergraduate Funding Office or the Financial Aid Office. This process is managed completely separately and the department has no influence on the final outcome for University-based funding options.