IEB & NSC An overview on the Independent Examinations Board (IEB ) National Senior Certificate (NSC)

Benefits of the Independent Examinations Board (IEB) Qualification The IEB’s mandate is to ensure that learners in South Africa become a valuable human resource, equipped with the skills and knowledge to allow South Africa to compete and to contribute towards the global economy. The IEB NSC is a South African qualification that is equivalent to the UK AS level, and provides Umalusi accredited examinations in all subjects recognised in the National Senior Certificate (NSC) for all IEB-registered schools.

Key notes on the IEB qualification

The IEB uses the South African National Curriculum which is regulated by the Department of Basic Education.

• The IEB NSC is quality assured by Umalusi, the Council for Quality Assurance in General and Further Education.
• The IEB NSC is an internationally benchmarked qualification and is equivalent to Cambridge AS level.

University entrance requirements

The NSC is the main entrance requirement into universities. Most institutions  use the NSC results in addition to the results of common entrance tests (benchmarking tests) to determine a candidate’s suitability for tertiary study. In South Africa, universities are at liberty to apply their own criteria to select students for admission into the various faculties. Usually, this includes a pass in certain mandatory subjects, such as English, Mathematics, or Science. In addition, university entrance criteria may also consider the Admission Point Score (APS) as explained in the ‘Elective Subjects’ heading above, that may influence a candidate’s aptitude and acceptance to study.