{"id":350,"date":"2026-02-20T10:33:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T10:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bursariesafrica.co.za\/universities\/?p=350"},"modified":"2026-09-22T15:44:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T15:44:09","slug":"smu-aps-points","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bursariesafrica.co.za\/universities\/smu-aps-points\/","title":{"rendered":"SMU Health Sciences 2027: Specialised APS Requirements"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University (SMU) adds up seven subjects, including Life Orientation<\/strong>, for its health programmes, on a 7-point scale. Each programme also sets a minimum level for each subject, and Life Orientation has its own minimum. The figures below come from SMU’s 2026\/2027 Undergraduate Prospectus<\/a> and its schools’ admission pages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to calculate your SMU APS<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  1. Convert each of your seven subject marks, including Life Orientation, into points with the table below.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Check that each subject meets the programme’s minimum level, not just the total.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Add the seven scores. BSc programmes in the School of Science and Technology are the exception: they use six subjects without Life Orientation.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    SMU APS table<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    NSC mark<\/th>APS points<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
    80\u2013100%<\/td>7<\/td><\/tr>
    70\u201379%<\/td>6<\/td><\/tr>
    60\u201369%<\/td>5<\/td><\/tr>
    50\u201359%<\/td>4<\/td><\/tr>
    40\u201349%<\/td>3<\/td><\/tr>
    30\u201339%<\/td>2<\/td><\/tr>
    0\u201329%<\/td>1<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    The School of Pharmacy’s own admission page uses an 8-point table (90\u2013100% = 8), which differs from the prospectus. If you are applying for BPharm, check with the school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Minimum APS for SMU health programmes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    Programme<\/th>Minimum APS<\/th>Subject minimums<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
    BSc (Dietetics)<\/td>25<\/td>Maths, Physical Sciences, Life Sciences, English 4; LO 3; two others 3<\/td><\/tr>
    Bachelor of Occupational Therapy<\/td>25<\/td>Maths, Physical Sciences, Life Sciences, English 4; LO 3; two others 3<\/td><\/tr>
    Bachelor of Speech-Language Pathology<\/td>25<\/td>Maths, English, Life Sciences and another language 4; LO 3<\/td><\/tr>
    Bachelor of Audiology<\/td>25<\/td>Maths, English, Life Sciences and another language 4; LO 3<\/td><\/tr>
    Bachelor of Nursing and Midwifery<\/td>25 or 26 (see below)<\/td>Maths, Physical Sciences, Life Sciences, English 4; LO 3<\/td><\/tr>
    BSc (Physiotherapy)<\/td>28<\/td>All seven subjects at 4, including LO<\/td><\/tr>
    BPharm<\/td>32<\/td>Maths, Physical Sciences, Life Sciences, English 5; LO 4; two others 4<\/td><\/tr>
    BDS (Dentistry)<\/td>37<\/td>Maths, Physical Sciences, Life Sciences 6; English 5; LO 5<\/td><\/tr>
    MBChB (Medicine)<\/td>38<\/td>English, Maths, Physical Sciences, Life Sciences 6; LO 5<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    SMU publishes the nursing requirement two ways: the Health Care Sciences admission page gives an APS of 25, while the table in the 2026\/2027 prospectus adds up to 26 with the first additional subject at level 4. Aim for the higher figure. Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology do not require Physical Sciences. SMU does not ask for the National Benchmark Tests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Selection<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Meeting the minimum does not guarantee a place: all SMU programmes are selected competitively, Physiotherapy and BPharm give preference to first-choice applicants, and Dentistry pre-selects on Grade 11 results. Nursing graduates register with the South African Nursing Council; most other programmes lead to HPCSA registration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Applying for 2027<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Applications for 2027 opened on 1 April 2026 and closed on 31 July 2026<\/strong> for undergraduate programmes. The non-refundable fee is R300, with your ID number as the reference, and you may choose at most two programmes. See the Health Care Sciences admission requirements<\/a> and our SMU fees guide<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Update note (checked September 2026):<\/strong> rewritten against SMU’s 2026\/2027 Undergraduate Prospectus and school admission pages. The earlier version used a wrong APS table and a best-six rule, said Life Orientation was weighted lower, said SMU may require the NBT and left out Dentistry, Medicine and Pharmacy minimums.<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University (SMU) adds up seven subjects, including Life Orientation, for its health programmes, on a 7-point […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":228,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_ba_keyfacts":"","_ba_provider_contact":"","_ba_provider_name":"","_ba_provider_type":"","_ba_provider_cat":"","_ba_writer":"pieter-van-der-merwe","_ba_reviewer":"naledi-khumalo","iawp_total_views":47,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-350","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-applications"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bursariesafrica.co.za\/universities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bursariesafrica.co.za\/universities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bursariesafrica.co.za\/universities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bursariesafrica.co.za\/universities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bursariesafrica.co.za\/universities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=350"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.bursariesafrica.co.za\/universities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":901,"href":"https:\/\/www.bursariesafrica.co.za\/universities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350\/revisions\/901"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bursariesafrica.co.za\/universities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bursariesafrica.co.za\/universities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bursariesafrica.co.za\/universities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bursariesafrica.co.za\/universities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}