Careers › Business & finance

How to become a Business & Management Professional

Runs the operations, marketing and strategy side of an organisation.

What does a Business & Management Professional actually do?

More about this career

A broad qualification covering strategy, operations, marketing and people management – useful because almost every industry needs managers, but less specialised than accounting, law or engineering. What you actually do depends entirely on which industry and function you land in after graduating.

Where this degree can take you

  • Marketing Manager
  • Operations Manager
  • Project Manager
  • Entrepreneur / Business Owner

This is our general description of the role and related jobs, not from an official source – it’s here to give you a fuller picture, not as a careers-counselling guarantee.

Not from an official source

Subjects that usually help

  • Mathematics
  • Business Studies (helpful)

This is our general guidance about which school subjects suit this career. It is not an admission requirement and not from an official source – the real requirements are on the degrees below.

Not from an official source

Where to check this yourself

What the degrees we’ve captured actually ask for

  • Mathematics – asked for by 8 of 8 degrees

Counted from the requirements below (an “or” alternative counts for each subject named). Each degree links to the page it came from.

Degrees that lead here

8 degrees at 6 universities. More are added as we verify them.

Rhodes University

BCom

Commerce · 3 years

Rhodes points 40 points

  • English: level 4 if it is your Home Language, level 4 if it is your First Additional Language
  • Mathematics: level 4 (50% or more)
  • Life Orientation: level 4 (50% or more)

Rhodes points of 34-39 are considered at the Dean’s discretion; 40 or more receives a provisional offer. We show 40 as the qualifying number so that "you qualify" means exactly that - but you are still worth an application from 34. Rhodes has no Engineering and no MBChB. The NBT is recommended, not required. Life Orientation is not scored, but you need at least 50% in it.

Source: View the official page (ru.ac.za) (opens the official page) · 2027 intake

BBusSc

Commerce

Rhodes points 45 points

  • English: level 4 if it is your Home Language, level 4 if it is your First Additional Language
  • Mathematics: level 6 (70% or more)
  • Life Orientation: level 4 (50% or more)

Rhodes points of 38-44 are considered at the Dean’s discretion; 45 or more receives a provisional offer. We show 45 as the qualifying number so that "you qualify" means exactly that - but you are still worth an application from 38. Rhodes has no Engineering and no MBChB. The NBT is recommended, not required. Rhodes does not state the duration for BBusSc in this document. Life Orientation is not scored, but you need at least 50% in it.

Source: View the official page (ru.ac.za) (opens the official page) · 2027 intake

Stellenbosch University

Selection programme

BCom Management Sciences

Economic & Management Sciences · 3 years

Stellenbosch aggregate 65 %

  • Mathematics: 60%

Every Stellenbosch programme is a selection programme. The figures shown are the published minimum requirements - the actual selection threshold is usually higher.

Source: View the official page (files.su.ac.za) (opens the official page) · 2027 intake

Selection programme

BCom International Business

Economic & Management Sciences · 4 years

Stellenbosch aggregate 80 %

  • Mathematics: 70%
  • English: 70% if it is your Home Language, 80% if it is your First Additional Language

Every Stellenbosch programme is a selection programme. The figures shown are the published minimum requirements - the actual selection threshold is usually higher.

Source: View the official page (files.su.ac.za) (opens the official page) · 2027 intake

University of Cape Town

BCom / BBusSc (all specialisations except those listed separately)

Commerce · 3 years

UCT Faculty Points Score 435 out of 600 (band a)

  • Mathematics: 60%
  • English: 50% if it is your Home Language, 60% if it is your First Additional Language
  • NBT – NBT Academic Literacy and Quantitative Literacy must be Upper Intermediate or above. The NBT Maths test is not required for Commerce.

Band A (guaranteed offer) is an FPS of 435. Band B (likely offer) is a WPS of 470 - the WPS adds a 0-10% disadvantage factor that we cannot work out from your marks, so we only check you against Band A. Band C (430-434, Education Development Unit only) applies to redress categories only. Includes the CA / Accounting streams. BBusSc is 4 years.

Source: View the official page (uct.ac.za) (opens the official page) · 2027 intake

University of KwaZulu-Natal

From an older document

BCom General

Law & Management Studies · 3 years

UKZN APS 30 points out of 48

  • English: level 4 (50% or more)
  • Life Orientation: level 4 (50% or more)
  • Mathematics: level 4 (50% or more)

The published APS range is 48-30. This comes from the Study@UKZN 2026 brochure, the most recent official source we could find. UKZN had not published a 2027 table when we checked, so treat these as 2026 figures pending a 2027 update. Applications go through the CAO.

Source: View the official page (studyatukzn.ukzn.ac.za) (opens the official page)

University of Pretoria

BCom (3-year)

Economic & Management Sciences

UP APS 30 points

  • English: level 5 if it is your Home Language, level 5 if it is your First Additional Language
  • Mathematics: level 4 (50% or more)

Most UP closing dates are 30 June; Veterinary Science closes 31 May. Grade 12 applicants apply with their final Grade 11 results.

Source: View the official page (drupalwebprod-files.up.ac.za) (opens the official page) · 2027 intake

University of the Witwatersrand

From an older document

BCom General / Information Systems / PPE

Commerce, Law & Management · 3 years

Wits APS 38 points

  • English: level 5 if it is your Home Language, level 5 if it is your First Additional Language
  • Mathematics: level 5 (60% or more)

This figure comes from the Wits schools-liaison Grade 12 guide, which is headed for 2026 entry. We have not yet found a 2027 course-finder page confirming it, so treat it as the most recent official figure rather than a confirmed 2027 one.

Source: View the official page (wits.ac.za) (opens the official page) · 2027 intake

Are your marks enough?

Put your subjects in once and we’ll check them against every degree above – scored each university’s own way.

What do I qualify for?