Matriculants who hope to pursue a career in medicine at UKZN, may have to look elsewhere for admission. The university only has place for 250 first year students and a race quota system, which means 19% of Indian students will gain admission.
According to the UKZN, there were about 12 000 applications for the 250 places for first year entrance to the MBChB degree programme at the Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine.
However, the quota system for the first year MBChB degree programme as defined by the College of Health Sciences specified that 69% (173) of the spots were for Black (African) students, 19% (48)for Indian, 9% (22) for Coloured, 2% (5) for White and 1% (2) other.
Normah Zondo, UKZN’s executive director of the corporate relations division, said: "The MBChB degree programme is the only programme at the university where the quota system applies."
She said admission, however, was accessible to applicants from all racial groups.
“The university is committed to redress past inequities with regards to accessing healthcare, in line with both the national and provincial transformation agenda.
“To promote social cohesion and broad economic development in rural areas, in line with the National Development Plan, selection ensures that sufficient applicants from rural areas in South Africa are admitted. The selection process applies a merit system to ensure that top applicants in all numerical equity target groups are admitted."
Zondo said in 2023, all 250 students admitted to the MBChB programme had an 87% and above aggregate.
“The university’s enrolment plan is revised regularly in accordance with the need to produce top quality professionals as required in the country,” she said.
Zondo added that in total UKZN received 365 034 individual applications of which 160 059 applicants were for 9 000 first-year places. She said the Bachelor of Education department received almost 15 000 applications, followed by Bachelor of Nursing (13 000) and Bachelor of Social Science (9 439).
The criteria to study health sciences at other universities differed.
Elijah Moholola, the spokesperson for the University of Cape Town’s communication and marketing department, said the Faculty of Health Sciences had received the most applications (19 029).
“UCT’s Faculty of Health Sciences consistently attracts a high volume of applications from prospective students due to its established excellence in teaching and learning, research and service.”
He said UCT had 240 places available for the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB) programme, 70 for occupational therapy, 70 for physiotherapy, and 40 for speech-language pathology, among others.
Moholola said in terms of the criteria, the Faculty of Health Sciences admissions committee would prioritise first choice applicants during the selection process.
“Applicants compete in selection categories, which include South African secondary school leavers, SADC applicants (international applicants), and applicants with tertiary results from UCT or other institutions.
“The dean may also allocate (within the intake targets) a small number of discretionary places, on merit, for example, repeat applicants who meet the prescribed minimum criteria and applicants with disabilities,” he said.
Moholola said the university received a total of 92 841 applications from prospective first-year students for admissions in 2024. However, UCT only had capacity to enrol 4 500.
Moholola did not respond as to whether the university had a quota system.
Carol Crosley, registrar at Wits University, said the university does not have a quotas system. She said they received 145 535 applications from prospective first-year students in 2024.
“We only have space for about 6 355 available for first years. Among our most popular degrees are the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Education.
"The Bachelor of Science, which offers 15 different fields of study, has 29 257 applicants, while the Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery has 22 288; and the Bachelor of Education (Senior Phase and Further Education and Training) has 19 335. The Bachelor of Laws has 18 295 applicants.
“There is very little change from previous years. The Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery is always in demand. The Bachelor of Education and laws likewise still rank among the most popular,” she said.