Key facts
- Status
- Applications closed Closed 28 February 2026
- Provider
- North-West University
- Study level
- Undergraduate, University
- Academic year
- 2027
- Last checked
- September 2026
The 2026 round for NWU's leadership, support and family bursaries closed on 28 February 2026; merit bursaries are automatic for full-time students, and NWU has not yet published its 2027 Instant Info.
VerifiedNorth-West University (NWU) runs its own bursary scheme alongside NSFAS and Funza Lushaka. Most of the money goes to academic merit: a first-year with a Matric average of 85% or more pays no tuition for major and ancillary modules in the first year, and seniors who keep a 75% average get up to half their tuition taken off. Smaller university bursaries cover former head boys and head girls, arts and culture achievers, orphans and foster children, students with a degenerating physical disability, and families with more than one child at NWU. The figures below come from NWU’s Instant Info: Undergraduate Bursaries 2026 summary, the latest edition NWU has published.
The rule that excludes NSFAS students
NWU states that no NSFAS-approved student may receive any of these bursaries, because NSFAS policy bars fully funded students from getting money from the university or any other source. A matriculant with a 90% average who is also funded by NSFAS will therefore not see the merit discount on the account. Distance learning students are excluded from every NWU bursary. All awards apply only to a first qualification, and only for the minimum period of the qualification registered for in the first year (three or four years), even if the student later changes field.
First-year merit discount by Matric average
Full-time first-years qualify automatically if they finished Grade 12 in the previous year, register at NWU for the first time for a first undergraduate qualification, and reach a 75% average. NWU works out the average from the six best subjects, ignoring Life Orientation, and does not round marks up. It uses the Matric results it receives from the Department of Education in January.
| Matric average (six best subjects, no Life Orientation) | First-year merit bursary |
|---|---|
| 85% to 100% | 100% of tuition fees |
| 80% to 84% | 75% of tuition fees |
| 75% to 79% | 25% of tuition fees |
The discount applies to tuition for major and ancillary modules only; additional modules are ignored, and residence and meal costs are not covered. Learners who did not matriculate through the South African school system, including Cambridge and Namibian candidates, do not get the award automatically. They must complete the merit bursary application form with their official final results, and NWU recognises only HESA-accredited schools. Those applications are assessed one by one and paid in April.
Keeping a merit discount after first year
From second year the scale drops and the test changes. A full-time student must pass every module of the previous year and reach an overall average of at least 75%, calculated across major and ancillary modules. Distinctions on their own earn nothing; only the average counts.
| Previous year’s average | Senior merit bursary (full-time) |
|---|---|
| 85% to 100% | 50% off tuition fees |
| 80% to 84% | 40% off tuition fees |
| 75% to 79% | 30% off tuition fees |
Full-time students must not apply; NWU allocates the senior award itself. Part-time contact students registered for the full curriculum must apply every year and receive half of the rates above. To put the scale in rand terms, NWU’s 2026 estimate of tuition for an Accounting qualification is R80,071.56, so a full-time Accounting senior on an 82% average would have roughly R32,000 taken off, depending on the modules actually registered.
Head boy, head girl and arts and culture awards
The Leadership Bursary is a once-off R3,500 deducted from the first-year tuition account. Only the chairperson of the school’s representative council, meaning the head boy or head girl, qualifies, and the student must already have been admitted to NWU. The application needs the school’s official testimonial or a similar certificate.
The Arts and Culture Bursary goes to first-years with exceptional individual achievements in arts and culture from Grade 8 to 12. Group achievements, Olympiads and Expos do not count. NWU’s arts and culture office assesses each application and sets the value, which differs from student to student. The award lasts one year, and holders are expected to take part in the university’s arts and culture activities. Questions go to Llewida May at llewida.may@nwu.ac.za.
Support bursaries for orphans, disability and siblings
- Orphan and foster-care bursary: 25% of tuition fees. Attach the death certificates of both parents, a court order placing the student in foster care, or a social worker’s affidavit. The student applies once in the first year and NWU then renews it automatically while the conditions are met.
- Bursary for a physically disabled student: 25% of tuition fees for a student with a degenerating physical disability that impedes study, backed by a recent medical certificate.
- Family bursary: when two or more members of one family are registered at NWU at the same time, the student with the largest student number applies, once per family, and the discount is paid to that student’s account: 15% of tuition for the second student, 20% for the third, 25% for the fourth and 30% for the fifth. Step-siblings with different surnames must attach proof such as a marriage certificate. Part-time contact students get half, and the family must re-apply every year.
Applying through the student portal by 28 February
Applications for the leadership, arts and culture, family, orphan and foster-care, and disability bursaries are made on the NWU Student Portal under My Bursaries, then Apply Bursaries, once the student has been admitted. The closing date for all academic, leadership, arts and culture and support bursaries is 28 February in the year of registration. Certified copies must be attached; NWU rejects incomplete forms. Sport and rugby bursaries follow a separate route with a 15 October closing date, handled by each campus’s sport office.
Parents and sponsors can direct questions to the campus bursary offices: Potchefstroom PC-Studyfees@nwu.ac.za, Vanderbijlpark VC-UnderGradBurs@nwu.ac.za and Mahikeng MC-UnderGradBurs@nwu.ac.za. Registered students must log queries through the Helpdesk menu on the Student Portal instead. More detail is on NWU’s undergraduate bursaries page, and our North-West University profile lists the other funding linked to NWU. For bursaries that are not tied to one campus, see our undergraduate bursaries list.
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About North-West University
Public university
North-West University (NWU) is one of South Africa's largest public universities, operating across three campuses in Potchefstroom, Mahikeng and Vanderbijlpark. NWU welcomes students from more than 50 countries and offers undergraduate, postgraduate and distance programmes across economic sciences,…
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