If a university has told you to “write your NBTs”, this page explains what that is, whether you need to, and when.
Checked we read it on an official page · From our research from our research, source cited · Not from an official source not from an official source.
What it is
The National Benchmark Tests "measure your academic readiness for University." There are two tests. The AQL (Academic and Quantitative Literacy) is written by applicants to all programmes that require the NBT. The MAT (Mathematics) is for programmes where Mathematics is a requirement. Each is multiple-choice and takes three hours.
They are written on the same day - the NBT Project does not let you write the AQL one day and the MAT another - and the MAT cannot be written on its own.
Academic and Quantitative Literacy – reading, reasoning and numbers. Three hours, multiple choice. Written by applicants to every programme that uses the NBT.
MAT
Mathematics. Three hours, multiple choice. Only for programmes where Maths is a requirement – and you write it the same day as the AQL.
No pass or fail
You don’t “pass”. Your result lands in a band, and each university says which band it wants.
The bands, from lowest to highest, are: Basic, Lower Intermediate, Intermediate, Upper Intermediate, Proficient. These are the names UCT uses in its prospectus when it sets requirements (for example, Commerce wants Upper Intermediate or above in the AQL, and UCT’s top MBChB band needs all domains at Proficient).
It depends on the university and the degree, not on you. Here is what each university we’ve checked says.
UCT
Required for South African resident applicants, and for all Health Sciences and Commerce applicants. Commerce needs the AQL at Upper Intermediate or above (the MAT is not required for Commerce). Health Sciences needs Intermediate or above, and your NBT is part of your selection score. Humanities: an Academic Literacy result of Lower Intermediate or Basic normally rules an applicant out.
Engineering & the Built Environment applicants write all three parts, but UCT says the results "are not taken into account for admission". In Science, results are used for placement in the extended degree rather than for admission.
Health Sciences: the AQL and MAT must be written in person (results from online NBTs are not considered) by 17 August. Science: required, before the end of October.
Not required for 2027, except for all Faculty of Law programmes, applicants from the School of Tomorrow, the South African-based American High School Diploma (AHSD) and all online schools. LLB and BA (Law) need the AQL; BCom (Law) and BAccLLB need the AQL and MAT; all before 31 July. In Law, selection is 80% school results and 20% NBT.
Recommended for all first-time university-entering South African applicants; if you miss the automatic entry requirements, your results feed into the Dean’s decision. Everyone should write the AQL; the MAT is for Commerce, Pharmacy and Science.
If your Grade 11 APS for a BA is 26–29 you must write the NBT, and your result (with the places available) can place you in the BA Extended programme. The NBT is not required for all selection degrees.
The UP document we read does not state its own year (its file name says 2020), so check UP’s current faculty page. Other UP faculties may differ.
Not from an official source
Websites that say "most universities require the NBT" are too vague to rely on: always check the faculty page of the degree you want.
Not from an official source
Universities not listed here: we haven’t captured their NBT rules from an official source yet, so we say nothing rather than guess. Ask them on our Ask a university page.
When, where and how often
"The NBTs are available from May until the first Saturday in January." You book a date and venue on nbt.ac.za and can change the booking until that sitting’s closing date.
You may write the NBT twice within a cycle, but you pay the full fee both times. Not every university will accept a second score, so ask before you rewrite.
Universities set their own deadline for receiving your results, and these can be as early as June or July. UCT says you do not need to rewrite if your NBTs were written in the last three years.
UCT’s own contacts page lists this address. The research pack gave a different one (nbt@uct.ac.za) which we could not find on UCT’s site, so we do not use it.
For a question about your application, ask the university you’re applying to – they decide what they’ll accept.
What this means for you
Write early if there’s any chance you need it. Universities set their own deadline for receiving results, and some are as early as June or July – well before matric results. From our researchStated on the NBT Project FAQ, per our research.
The NBT can’t rescue a subject requirement: if a degree needs Maths at 70% and you have 62%, a great NBT doesn’t change that.
In our calculator, degrees that also need an NBT show up as + More to it, not as “Good to go”.