W&RSETA Bursary Scheme for Unemployed Students

Written by Keagan HendricksStaff Writer (Unisa Alumnus)

Reviewed & verified by Naledi KhumaloSenior Admissions and Bursaries EditorVerified

The Wholesale and Retail Sector Education and Training Authority (W&RSETA) runs a national bursary scheme for unemployed students on retail-related qualifications at universities and TVET colleges. Unlike most bursaries, students cannot apply to W&RSETA themselves. The SETA gives bursary money to institutions, bursary administrators, levy-paying retail companies and W&RSETA Retail Chairs, and those bodies then choose and register the students. The main window for the 2026 academic year opened on 17 December 2025 and closed on 16 January 2026. A second window, for continuing bursars only, closed on 30 May 2026.

Why students go through their college or university

The 2026 advert says W&RSETA will not accept applications from individual students. Applications come only from these bodies:

• public and private higher education institutions and TVET colleges
• W&RSETA levy-paying companies
• bursary service providers and administrators
• W&RSETA Retail Chairs

Each body applies on the SETA’s management information system (MIS) through the stakeholder portal. Its provincial W&RSETA office evaluates the application, and successful bodies receive an award letter. For 2026, award letters were due by 15 April. Only after accepting the letter does the institution register its selected students on the MIS and sign a contract. For a student, the practical step is to ask the financial aid office, or the Retail Chair at your university, whether it holds a W&RSETA allocation for your course and how it selects students.

Qualifications and study levels the scheme funds

For new bursars in 2026, W&RSETA gave preference to qualifications that meet the hard-to-fill vacancies and new and emerging occupations in its Sector Skills Plan for 2026/27. It also listed these retail-related fields:

• Food Technology or Food Security, and Clothing Technology or Production
• Supply Chain Management and Operations Management
• Financial Accounting or Management, and Credit Management
• Human Resources, Marketing Management, and Business Management or Administration
• ICT and Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) programmes

The scheme is not limited to degrees. Qualifying programmes are higher certificates, diplomas and degrees at NQF levels 5 to 7, NCV Levels 2 to 4, NATED N4 to N6 at TVET colleges, and QCTO-registered occupational qualifications at NQF 5 to 7. Learnerships are excluded.

Students under 35 from missing-middle homes

New bursars must be unemployed South African citizens under 35 who are accepted or registered for one of the listed study areas. W&RSETA prefers “missing middle” students, which the advert defines as those whose parents earn between R350,000 and R600,000 a year, as identified by the institution. These are households usually above the NSFAS income limit but unable to pay fees themselves. Funding goes towards tuition, books and stationery, and an incidental or student allowance, at rates set in the SETA’s funding structure. The advert does not publish rand amounts.

Keeping the bursary in later years

Funding is renewed each year, and the institution has to apply again. To continue, a bursar funded in 2025 had to pass 60% of their modules and qualify for the next level. The institution submits its memorandum of agreement, an expenditure report and a list of students with their results. The May 2026 window was a catch-up for institutions that had not yet applied to continue funding their 2025 bursars. It also covered students who started in the second semester of 2025. Continuing bursars are funded at the rates in the institution’s original contract.

Provincial offices that handle the scheme

W&RSETA’s provincial offices help institutions get MIS access and evaluate applications. The phone numbers below come from the 2026 adverts:

The full conditions are in the 2026 bursary scheme advert and the continuing-bursar window advert. The SETA’s own profile is on the W&RSETA provider page. The University of Johannesburg’s allocation is covered separately on the W&RSETA UJ bursary page, and other SETAs are compared in the SETA bursary guide.

FAQs

About W&RSETA

Sector Education and Training Authority (wholesale and retail)

The Wholesale and Retail Sector Education and Training Authority (W&RSETA) was established in 2000 under the Skills Development Act. W&RSETA, a public entity headquartered in Centurion, exists to meet the skills needs of the wholesale and retail sector,…

Read the full W&RSETA profile →

Address

Riverside Office Park, Hennops House, 1303 Heuwel Avenue, Centurion, 0157

Phone

012 622 9500

Website

wrseta.org.za