Faculty of Educational Sciences

Department of Mathematics, Natural & Consumer Sciences Education

General Programme Rules

  • Attendance of at least 80% in all lectures (theory and practical) is compulsory for all students in undergraduate and postgraduate programmes where applicable.
  • A student with an attendance of less than 80% is not eligible to write any examination in that subject.
  • An attendance register must be signed by the student during the first part of the lecture.
  • This register will either be distributed by the lecturer or by the tutor(s) or demonstrator(s).
  • Assessment of all undergraduate and postgraduate programmes shall take place on a continuous basis throughout the course of each module/course culminating in a written or oral examination at the end of each semester/academic year.
  • Weighting shall be in the ratio of 50%, continuous assessment to 50% written or oral examination.
  • The overall aggregate pass mark shall be 50%.
  • A student with an overall mark of between 40% and 50% subject to a minimum mark of 40% for both continuous assessment and final examination qualify for a supplementary examination.
  • BA programme in each discipline must contain at least 50% of credits from modules/courses in that discipline.
  • Credits brought from other institutions may be recognised but must be less than 50% of WSU credits.
  • A student must register for courses/modules worth a minimum of 120 and a maximum of 128 credits each year.
  • To proceed to the next level of study a student must pass two-thirds of what he/she was registered in the year preceding the progression year and meet the prerequisites of the courses he/she intends to register.
  • For a student to graduate he/she must have satisfied all the requirements of a programme he/she registered for.
  • Students will be allowed to register for subjects in higher levels provided a pass mark (50%) for prerequisites for the subjects are met and that there are no timetable clashes.
  • No concurrent registration is allowed, that is, a level two or three students will not be allowed to register a module which pre-requisites he/she does not meet.

Exclusion Rules

  • The maximum permissible period of study of a 360 credits National Diploma is five years and for a 480 credits degree is six years.
  • When a student reaches the maximum allowed period for the programme, he/she will not be allowed to re-register for the same programme, as per university rules.
  • An excluded student can, however, present himself/herself for re-registration after one year.

Admission Requirements

Admission into Undergraduate Programmes

  • For all Bachelor’s Degree programmes, only applicants whose National Senior Certificate (NSC) results indicate that the learner has met the requirements for admission into Bachelor’s Degree, that is, Bachelors’ endorsement, may be admitted.
  • In the case of the old Senior Certificate, only applicants with a Matriculation Exemption endorsement will be considered for admission.
  • For all Diploma programmes only applicants whose National Senior Certificate (NSC) results indicate that the learner has met the requirements for admission into at least a Diploma, that is, Diploma endorsement may be admitted.
  • In the case of the old Senior Certificate, a pass with the symbol D(SG) or E (HG) in English and any other 3 school subject will be required for admission.

Admission Point System (APS)

  • The Faculty of Education endeavours to use a point system for admissions.
  • The achievement levels are then translated into points for each NSC subject.
  • Points will be used to calculate the total Admission Point Score (APS).
  • The minimum APS required for likely admission into Diploma programmes (ND ABET and ULME) shall be 24.
  • The minimum APS required for a Bachelor’s degree is 28.
  • The Faculty of Education Admissions Committee considered the administration of admission point score as proposed by Usaf (Universities South Africa).
  • The Committee appreciates the breakdown made in the achievement levels as this advantages a student whose performance is better than others.
  • On the basis of the Usaf proposal, the points will be awarded as in the following example:
NSC % per Subject Points
91% 9,1
86% 8,6
82% 8,2
79% 7,9
64% 6,4
55% 5,5
43% 4,3
39% 3,9
31% 3,1
30% 3,0
29% 2,9
28% 2,8
27% 2,7
26% 2,6
25% 2,5

  • The purpose of the above split will assist departments in admitting students according to their performance as opposed to the previous point system where a learner who scores 70% and the one who scores 79% would both attain 7 points.
  • It should be noted that the above scoring system excludes Life Orientation and Mathematical Literacy.

Points for these two are allocated as follows:

NSC % per Subject Points
90-100% 5
80-89% 4
70-79% 3
60-69% 2
50-59% 1
40-49% 0
30-39% 0
0-29% 0

 

B Ed: Senior Phase and Further and Education Training Teaching (Mathematics, Science & Technology)

Minimum Admission Requirements

  • National Senior Certificate (NSC), with Bachelor’s degree endorsement with at least 50% in Life Sciences, Mathematics, Physical Sciences, Agricultural Sciences.
  • The subjects that will be not be taken as majors including English can have at least 40%.

OR

  • A Senior Certificate (SC) with matriculation exemption or mature exemption with at least an E symbol on HG or a D symbol on SG in English, Life Sciences, Mathematics, Physical Sciences, Agricultural Sciences.

OR

  • A National Certificate Vocational (NCV) Level 4 with Bachelor’s degree endorsement with at least 60% in Life Sciences, Mathematics, Physical Sciences, Agricultural Sciences.
  • The subjects that will be not be taken as majors including English can have at least 50%.

OR

  • N4 or N5 or N6 Certificate with at least 50% achievement in the respective subjects that are equivalent to English, Life Sciences, Mathematics, Physical Sciences, Agricultural Sciences.

The following abbreviations will be used throughout:

SP Senior Phase (Grades 7 to 9)
FET Further Education and Training (Grades 10 to 12 or TVET)
SBE              School Based Experience

Please note the following important information when making your choice:

A student needs to do three majors:

  Option 1 Option 2
FET Major A Mathematics Life Sciences or
Physical Sciences
FET Major B              Life Sciences or
Physical Sciences                         
Mathematics
SP Major C Mathematics Natural Sciences

 

  • In Option 1 and Option 2, Mathematics FET is compulsory.  It must be chosen and done at least up to Level II, that is, it must be selected as either Major A or Major B.
  • You need to keep the majors as A, B or C as these are throughout your study according to the option chosen.
  • The following FET major subject combination is not allowed.
    • Life Sciences and Physical Sciences.

NOTE

  • For Life Sciences content, you must register for BOTH Botany and Zoology at each level.
  • For Physical Sciences content, register for BOTH Chemistry and Physics at each level.

Curriculum

For details of the curriculum, please download your free electronic copy of the Faculty of Educational Sciences 2021 which is based at the Mthatha Campus of Walter Sisulu University.