Limpopo Department of Health Student Nurse Training

Written by Keagan HendricksStaff Writer (Unisa Alumnus)

Reviewed & verified by Naledi KhumaloSenior Admissions and Bursaries EditorVerified

The Limpopo Department of Health trains nurses at its own provincial college, the Limpopo College of Nursing, and the students study on what the college prospectus calls a “bursary system”. This is not a bursary to take to a university of your choice. Applicants apply to the college once a year for the three-year Diploma in Nursing (General), and those who are selected sign an agreement with the department for a bursary allowance. The intake for 2026 was advertised in Circular 44 of 2025 and closed on 30 November 2025. The college says information on the next cycle “will be loaded once application cycle is opened”, and no 2027 circular was on ldoh.gov.za on 29 September 2026.

The Diploma in Nursing at four campuses

The qualification is the Diploma in Nursing (General) under South African Nursing Council regulation R.171 of 8 March 2013, at NQF level 6 with 364 credits, taught in English. The 2026 circular called it the “fourth intake of nurses since new curriculum”. Training ran at four campuses of the college: Giyani, Sovenga, Thohoyandou and Sekhukhune. Students attend lectures at their campus and do work-integrated learning in clinical facilities across the province, with the campus deciding the placement. On completion, graduates receive a diploma endorsed by the moderating higher education institution, which allows registration with SANC as a general nurse.

According to the college, it is the major supplier of qualified nurses to Limpopo’s 43 hospitals and more than 400 primary health care facilities. There is one intake per year, and the number of first-year places is set by the Department of Health, so meeting the minimum requirements does not guarantee a place.

What the bursary covers, and what students still pay

The department’s circular says successful candidates “will be required to sign an agreement with the Limpopo Department of Health for the bursary allowance”, and the prospectus says every student signs a memorandum of agreement with the department on admission. Neither document publishes the allowance amount or the terms of that agreement. The prospectus is clear about several costs that remain with the student:

• Tuition fee: paid by all registered students, at an amount set by the College Council and “deducted in accordance with stipulated terms”.
• Prescribed books: a list is given at orientation, and buying them is compulsory.
• Board and lodging: available at a prescribed monthly fee under a lease agreement, with no catering. Accommodation at campuses and clinical facilities is limited.
• Repeating a year: a student receives no bursary while repeating. Only one year may be failed and repeated once, and the course must be finished within four years.

Matric results needed for the rating scale

Applicants need a National Senior Certificate with a Bachelor’s pass, or an old Senior Certificate with endorsement (matric exemption), and must be South African citizens. The prospectus adds that applicants must come from Limpopo Province. The compulsory subjects were:

Applicants also complete the college’s rating scale, circling the level for each subject, and need at least 24 points with Life Orientation excluded. The prospectus lists Mathematical Literacy as an option only for applicants who finished Grade 12 in an earlier year; for learners still in Grade 12, it lists Mathematics at level 4. Anyone who wants to fund a nursing degree at a university instead can compare the options on our nursing bursaries page.

District upload links and the R150 fee

For 2026, applicants downloaded the prospectus, rating scale and application form, then uploaded the completed form through the department’s online vacancy application system under a reference for their district:

• Capricorn: LDH/09/001
• Mopani: LDH/09/002
• Sekhukhune: LDH/09/003
• Vhembe: LDH/09/004
• Waterberg: LDH/09/005

A non-refundable administration fee of R150 had to be deposited into the college’s bank account, with no cash accepted, and the deposit slip attached; the prospectus says an application without it is disqualified. Other attachments were a certified copy of the Senior Certificate or results, the ID and, where applicable, a marriage certificate, the rating scale, proof of SANC registration where applicable, certified or original proof of residence, and, for current Grade 12 learners, a school testimonial listing their subjects. The form also asks for three telephone numbers of relatives or friends. Grade 12 learners had to hand in their final results at a campus within ten working days of publication, and the college verifies all results with Umalusi before registration is finalised.

Selected candidates were told by telephone or email, and applicants who had not heard by the end of February 2026 were to treat their applications as unsuccessful. Enquiries go to the Limpopo College of Nursing Student Affairs office on 015 291 1120, at 34 Hans van Rensburg Street, Polokwane. The college’s page on ldoh.gov.za is where the next circular and forms will appear. Other provincial health and education funders are listed under Limpopo government bursaries, and Gauteng’s equivalent route is described on the Gauteng College of Nursing bursary page.

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