Key facts
- Status
- Check with the provider
- Provider
- Discovery Limited
- Study level
- Postgraduate
- Last checked
- September 2026
Discovery publishes no dates or application form for AGFA because universities nominate candidates; the latest cycle reported by a participating university is 2025.
VerifiedThe Adrian Gore Fellowship Award (AGFA) is Discovery’s annual contest for the country’s strongest actuarial science students. It carries the name of Discovery’s founder and chief executive, himself a qualified actuary. Discovery’s careers site describes it as a springboard for top Actuarial Science Honours students from leading South African universities, who present their ideas to the group’s senior leadership for a chance at the Fellowship. Only one student wins each year.
AGFA is not a bursary that students apply for online. Candidates are put forward by their university’s actuarial department, and Discovery publishes no application form, no call and no closing date. Most of the detail below comes from the universities that take part, which have reported on their students’ results.
Four universities, one Fellowship
Wits University reported in July 2020 that the award started in 2013 and is given every year to a top actuarial science student chosen from four competing universities. The University of Pretoria’s July 2025 report names them: the University of Pretoria, the University of Cape Town, Wits and Stellenbosch University. Wits described the 2020 field as twenty top Actuarial Science Honours students, and Pretoria said the 2025 cycle ended with six national finalists.
Each department decides whom to nominate. The University of Pretoria put forward five Honours students in 2025 after its own internal selection. Its Head of Actuarial Science, Prof. Conrad Beyers, explained that the department weighs how intellectually and psychologically demanding the national round is before choosing.
Assessments and unprepared presentations
Once nominated, students go through Discovery’s national process. The University of Pretoria lists cognitive and psychometric assessments, unprepared presentations to senior Discovery executives, and individual evaluation under pressure. Finalists meet past AGFA contestants, senior actuarial staff and Discovery’s executive committee along the way. Both university reports place the national round around July, during the Honours year.
What the winner and the finalists get
- A job and mentorship. Wits reported that the 2020 winner would join Discovery the following year and be mentored by Adrian Gore through the Fellowship programme, which is designed to fast-track the recipient’s actuarial career.
- Money for the university. The 2020 award came with R150,000 for the winner’s school at Wits. Discovery has not published whether this amount still applies.
- A route in for the finalists. The University of Pretoria says several of its students have been employed by Discovery after taking part in AGFA, even without winning.
Recent winners include Jimmy Yuan of Wits in 2020 and Anagha Krishnannair of the University of Pretoria in 2025.
Getting considered
A student must be in Actuarial Science Honours at one of the four participating universities and be chosen by the department. Neither Discovery nor the universities publish a mark threshold. Students who want to be considered should speak to their actuarial science department early in the Honours year. Discovery lists AGFA with its GradHack and graduate programmes on the Discovery talent experience page.
AGFA pays nothing towards a student’s own fees. Actuarial students who need funding for their degree can use the actuarial science bursaries list; two insurers that fund actuarial degrees are covered on the Liberty and Old Mutual pages.