Information is subject to change.
What are the National Benchmark Tests (NBTs)?
Compulsory Academic and Quantitative Literacy test & Mathematics test
The National Benchmark Tests Project is a project of Higher Education South Africa (HESA). It is a national initiative and the NBTs are used by several South African universities as part of their student placement processes. There are 2 tests, each with a duration of 3 hours. The first test is an Academic and Quantitative Literacy Test (AQL) and the second is a Mathematics Test (MAT).
How does the UFS make use of the NBT results?
The NBTs are used as part of the selection process for the Faculty of Health Sciences (the School of Medicine and the School for Allied Health Sciences). For students applying to all our other Faculties (including Nursing), NBT results are used during the registration process, but not for admissions decisions. NBT performance levels are used to place first-year students into appropriate programmes or modules. Students who do not perform at the proficient level in the NBT Academic Literacy test, and are going to study in English, must register for an Academic Literacy Development module in English, namely: ALC/ALF/ ALN 108. Students who are going to study in Afrikaans must register for the academic literacy course in Afrikaans, namely: AFA108. The ALC/ALF/ALN 108 courses aim at easing students into the reading and writing tasks required at university. These are not English language courses. They are Academic Literacy courses. This kind of reading and writing is not taught at school level and will provide the student with guidance on how to write and read for the academy. The ALC/ALF/ALN 108 courses assist students to improve their academic reading, writing and study skills. The courses aim at giving students the skills and confidence to read an academic text efficiently and critically, and extract the main ideas and key details so that the student can adequately display this knowledge in...