A bursary is a form of financial aid provided to deserving students. A bursary will pay a student's tuition fees and may cover other costs related to their studies. This amount of financial support received by a student is dependent on the bursary they receive.
Bursaries can be awarded to students for several different reasons. These reasons may be due to a student's academic or athletic achievements or based on a student's financial needs.
Students can apply for bursaries on The Bursaries Portal. These applications will usually involve students providing information which proves they meet the qualifying criteria for the bursary.
Can You Get A Bursary Without Matric?
The answer to this question depends on the bursary requirements stipulated by the funder.
Tertiary qualification courses contain eligibility criteria, which a potential recipient must meet in order to qualify to enrol in the academic programme. The main requirement to enter the tertiary education sector is that you have completed Grade 12.
You cannot get a bursary without a matric qualification if you are applying for a bursary for a tertiary education course.
The most common bursary provider in South Africa is the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (Nsfas). Nsfas currently provides bursaries to more than 700,000 students in South Africa. To qualify for Nsfas bursaries, university students must have obtained a matric certificate.
However, Nsfas does fund students for Pre-Vocational Learning Programmes (PLP) at Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges. PLP’s are aimed at students who have completed Grade 9, want to study National Certificate Vocational (NCV) but missed out to study due to a low academic result.
This is just one example of a bursary offered to students without a matric certificate. However, students should evaluate the bursary requirements they are applying for to determine if they require a matric qualification.
Find out about all the funding opportunities available to people living in South Africa on The Bursaries Portal.
