The increased pass rate of 78,2% (compared to 73.9% last year) and the fact that 30.6% of the current matriculants obtained bachelor’s passes which qualify them for a university place, will put increasing pressure for admission to tertiary education institutes.
But for those who might not be accepted at the tertiary institution of their first choice, all is not lost. Dr Felicity Coughlan, Director of the Independent Institute of Education (IIE) says even though it may feel like it’s too late for tears or cheers, there are always exciting and viable learning opportunities still available.
“The matric results are usually a double-edged sword. Some who might have been expecting the worst could well have been pleasantly surprised and might now find they may have set their sights too low and be confused about their options.
“And there are those who expected the best and did far worse than they should have. For both those who did better or worse than expected, now is the time to investigate options that they may not have thought of before.
“Many of the public institutions are not accepting late applications. But many registered and accredited private higher education institutions are still open for applications including all of those that are part of The Independent Institute of Education (www.iie.ac.za).”
Dr Coughlan says there is also still time to investigate higher education study opportunities that learners might have neglected to look at while focusing on their examination preparation. “Many would-be students might not be aware of the broad reach of opportunities offered by private tertiary institutions. One of the routes, for example that of a Higher Certificate, offers new opportunities which might best suit some learners.
The certification route is not only increasingly accepted as a route into degree study the following year, but can be used as a means to an end or as a way to provide learners with strong work-related skills and a stronger academic foundation in a specific field of study.
“Diploma study is a very viable option particularly for those that are clear about the vocational field they wish to pursue – many exciting fields such as Public Relations or Marketing or Design are best taught through Diplomas as these qualifications offer more practical training than usually found within a degree.”
She said it was critical that students did their homework thoroughly now – checking on the accreditation and registration of the institutions and the qualifications as well as on any professional endorsements associated with the qualifications. She warned that if this information was difficult to get from an institution, caution is recommended.
“There are several high quality options available and reputable institutions should be able to share their registration, accreditation and endorsement information without any hesitation.”
Article issued by the Independent Institute of Education