An MCom programme intends to equip students with the requisite knowledge of contemporary commerce issues and research skills that empower the graduates to conduct valuable scientific commerce-related empirical work. The program will empower them to practice as professional economists and business experts in the private and public sectors. The MCom covers all important business and economics areas as its focused niche.

Holders of Honours Degree in Business Sciences/Management or Economics from WSU or any university accredited by the senate. Students should have obtained an average of 60% or higher.

A student-centred technology-infused teaching & learning strategy that accommodates a diversity of students. These will include a range of teaching and learning styles that accommodate various skills, knowledge and abilities.

To meet the practical and experiential learning, the students are exposed to practical learning in research through proposal development, presentations, site visits, debates and working with real data to test theories in the research project. The students are also involved in departmental research initiatives as field workers and co-authors.

Research students will be allocated a supervisory team of at least two supervisors. Research students will be developed by creating knowledge and understanding through their own research and guided independent study via individual supervision meetings. The department also provides support to students through seminars and workshops on proposal writing, library use and referencing, literature review, data analysis and methodological challenges, interpretation of results and getting published

The overall assessment strategy in the curriculum and materials development stage of module development includes the module assessment criteria, as well as the formative and summative assessment, and moderation to be done in each module (WSU Assessment Policy, 2022).

Formative assessment measures students’ learning progress to provide ongoing and incremental feedback. It includes a range of formal and informal assessments to monitor the progress made towards achieving learning outcomes and obtaining a year/ semester mark or predicate, i.e., admission to the summative assessment (WSU Assessment Policy, 2022).

Research Dissertation/Project Assessment Successful learners, for this qualification, will write a full dissertation. In this dissertation, the learner identifies a suitable research topic and explores it independently, demonstrating its relevance to either the advancement of academic knowledge or the resolution of a problem in an area of practical concern.

The full dissertation entails a piece of supervised research work, which should be capable of being published in an academic journal. Formatively, the dissertation will be presented in seminars (both Departmental and Faculty level) for approval of topics and in local and national conferences. The Summative assessment will submit the project to two external supervisors for marking and grade scoring.

Master of Commerce is a research-based qualification with 180 credits of the research component. The student should pass the research project to graduate.

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) may be used to demonstrate competence for admission to this qualification in line with the university’s RPL policy. Refer to requirements as per 2026 WSU General Prospectus – Section 4, paragraphs 1.6 and 1.7

Credit Transfer

Students are allowed to apply for formal credit recognition for modules/courses attained from other institutions, according to the university’s policy on credit transfers. Refer to requirements as per 2023 WSU General Prospectus – Section 4, paragraphs 1.6 and 1.7

Students who have achieved NQF Level 9 may register for a Doctoral Degree in any institution of higher learning. This qualification opens the pathway to NQF Level 10.

G7.4 Grounds for Academic Exclusion A student who fails to attain the minimum credit requirements at the end of any year of study as stipulated in all the tables above and/or, where applicable, is not on track to attain in the required time the exit-level courses (e.g. major subjects) necessary for obtaining the qualification, will be excluded. Please see the WSU General Prospectus, which explains the grounds for academic exclusion in great detail, available at https://www.wsu.ac.za/index.php/en/study-with-us/2024-prospectuses?layout=table

The graduates will be equipped with unique skills and contemporary knowledge in their business and economics specialised research focus. The acquired contemporary knowledge and skills are expected to enhance the graduates’ capabilities to enhance career growth, workplace performance and support, economics, business success and growth in the Eastern Cape Province and South Africa at large.

External stakeholders and professional bodies in South Africa are always consulted. The students are sourced from the Walter Sisulu throughputs and from other universities in Eastern Cape, South Africa and Africa and other parts of the world as a university with the motto to ‘pursue excellence and conduct impactful research’. The program also admits people from the industry. The program produces quality and employable graduates who are job creators.