Your APS score is a key factor in university admissions, and this free tool makes calculating it quick and easy.
This user-friendly tool instantly converts your grades into your all-important Admission Point Score. Start calculating now and confidently plan your future!
Simply enter your grades and let our calculator do the rest.
APS Points Scale
| Percentage Range | Points Awarded |
|---|---|
| 80-100% | 7 points |
| 70-79% | 6 points |
| 60-69% | 5 points |
| 50-59% | 4 points |
| 40-49% | 3 points |
| 30-39% | 2 points |
| 0-29% | 1 point |
All Universities APS Calculators
How to Calculate APS Scores
Let’s break down how to calculate your APS (Admission Point Score) step-by-step, making it super clear and easy to understand, even if you feel like you learn a bit slower.
What is APS Score and Why Do You Need to Calculate It?
Imagine APS as your “score” to get into a college or university.
Different courses and institutions in South Africa have different APS requirements.
Calculating your APS helps you:
- Know if you qualify: See if your grades are good enough for the courses you want.
- Plan your applications: Target universities and courses that match your APS.
- Understand your strengths: See which subjects are contributing most to your score.
Important Note: APS calculation isn’t exactly the same everywhere. This guide will cover the general principles and a common method per South Africa NSC. You must always check the specific APS calculation method used by the institution you are applying to. Their website or admissions office will have the exact details. This guide gives you a strong foundation to understand their specific rules.
Step-by-Step Guide to Calculating APS Scores
1. Gather Your Subject Grades
What you need: Your official academic record or report card. This is the paper (or online document) that lists all the subjects you took and the grades you received.
Action:
- Find your report card: Get the document that shows your final grades for the subjects you want to use for your APS calculation. Usually, this is for your final year of high school (like Grade 12 or equivalent).
- Identify your subjects: Make a list of all the subjects you want to include in your APS calculation. Typically, you’ll use your best subjects (we’ll talk about which ones later if there are choices). For now, just list them all out.
- Write down your grades/percentages: For each subject, write down the percentage you achieved. It’s usually shown as a number out of 100 (%). If your report card shows letter grades (like A, B, C), you might need to convert them to percentages first. (We’ll address letter grades in a bit if needed, but percentages are most common for APS).
Example: Let’s say your report card looks something like this (simplified):
| Subject | Grade/Percentage |
|---|---|
| Mathematics | 75% |
| English | 82% |
| Science | 68% |
| History | 88% |
| Art | 92% |
| Geography | 70% |
| Life Orientation | 85% |
2. Understand the APS Conversion Scale (The Key)
What it is: The APS Conversion Scale is like a secret code or a translator. It changes your subject percentages into APS points. Each percentage range gets a certain number of APS points.
Where to find it: You need to find the specific APS conversion scale used by the university or college you are interested in. Look for it on their:
- Website: Usually under “Admissions,” “Entry Requirements,” or “How to Apply.” Search for “APS Calculation” or “Admission Point Score.”
- Admissions Brochure: If they have a printed or online brochure about applying, it should be there.
- Contact the Admissions Office: If you can’t find it online, call or email their admissions office and ask them to provide their APS conversion scale.
What it looks like: An APS conversion scale is usually presented as a table. It will look something like this (this is the commonly used scale in South Africa, your scale might be different):
| Percentage Range | APS Points |
|---|---|
| 80% – 100% | 7 |
| 70% – 79% | 6 |
| 60% – 69% | 5 |
| 50% – 59% | 4 |
| 40% – 49% | 3 |
| 30% – 39% | 2 |
| 0% – 29% | 1 |
Important! Notice how higher percentages get more APS points. Getting a higher percentage in your subjects means a better APS score!
3. Convert Each Subject Percentage to APS Points
Action: Now, we use the APS conversion scale (from Station 2) to change each of your subject percentages (from Station 1) into APS points. Think of it like looking up words in a dictionary.
Let’s go back to our example subjects and use the example APS scale above:
| Subject | Grade/Percentage | APS Points (using example scale) |
|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 75% | 6 (Because 75% is in the 70-79% range) |
| English | 82% | 7 (Because 82% is in the 80-100% range) |
| Science | 68% | 5 (Because 68% is in the 60-69% range) |
| History | 88% | 7 (Because 88% is in the 80-100% range) |
| Art | 92% | 7 (Because 92% is in the 80-100% range) |
| Geography | 70% | 6 (Because 70% is in the 70-79% range) |
| Life Orientation | 85% | 7 (Assuming it’s counted and using example scale) |
Do this for every subject on your list. Carefully look at the percentage for each subject and find the matching APS points from the conversion scale.
4. Add Up Your APS Points
Action: This is the easy part! Once you have the APS points for each subject, simply add them all together.
Using our example:
APS Score = (APS points for Mathematics) + (APS points for English) + (APS points for Science) + (APS points for History) + (APS points for Art) + (APS points for Geography) + (APS points for Life Orientation) APS Score = 6 + 7 + 5 + 7 + 7 + 6 + 7 = 45
So, in this example, your calculated APS score would be 45.
Station 5: Important Rules and Details (Don’t Skip This!)
Now, we need to talk about some extra rules that might change how you calculate your APS. These rules are VERY important and vary from university to university!
Rule 1: How many subjects are counted?
Some universities count your best 6 subjects. Others might count your best 7 subjects. Some might even have a different number.
Action: Check the university’s APS rules! They will tell you how many subjects they use to calculate your APS.
What if they only count a certain number? If they only count, say, your best 6 subjects, you need to:
- Calculate the APS points for all your eligible subjects (like we did in Station 3).
- Look at the APS points you got for each subject.
- Choose the 6 subjects with the highest APS points.
Add up the APS points for only those best 6 subjects. The subjects with lower APS points are not included in your final APS score in this case.
Example (Continuing our example, let’s say the university counts your best 6 subjects): Our subjects and APS points were:
- Mathematics: 6
- English: 7
- Science: 5
- History: 7
- Art: 7
- Geography: 6
- Life Orientation: 7
If we need to pick the best 6, we would choose the ones with the highest APS points.
In this case, we have four subjects with 7 APS points. We need to pick 6, so we would choose:
English, History, Art, Life Orientation, and then we need two more.
From the remaining subjects (Mathematics, Science, Geography), we’d pick Mathematics and Geography because they have 6 APS points each, which are higher than Science’s 5.
Best 6 subjects (in this case, there might be slight variation depending on tie-breaking rules, but generally subjects with highest APS points):
- English (7)
- History (7)
- Art (7)
- Life Orientation (7)
- Mathematics (6)
- Geography (6)
New APS score (best 6 subjects) = 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 6 + 6 = 40 (Notice it’s lower than 45 because we didn’t include Science).
Rule 2: Designated Subjects (Sometimes Important)
Some universities care more about certain “designated subjects” for specific courses.
These are usually subjects that are very relevant to the course you want to study (like Mathematics and Science for Engineering).
Action: Check the course requirements! The university will list if there are “designated subjects” for the course you’re interested in.
How it affects APS:
- Sometimes, they might require you to have a minimum APS in designated subjects in addition to your overall APS.
- In some cases, they might give extra weight to designated subjects when calculating your APS (but this is less common, usually just minimum requirements).
Example: A university might say for Engineering: “You need a minimum APS of 35 and at least a Level 5 (which translates to a certain APS point range – check their scale) in Mathematics and Physical Science (which are designated subjects).”
Rule 3: Life Orientation (and similar subjects)
Some universities do not count Life Orientation (or similar subjects) when calculating APS. They might see it as more of a general requirement than an academic subject for APS purposes.
Action: You must check if the university counts Life Orientation (or similar subjects) in their APS calculation.
What if it’s not counted? If it’s not counted, simply don’t include its APS points when you add up your total. Calculate your APS using your other eligible subjects. In our example, if Life Orientation was not counted, our APS (using all subjects) would become 45 – 7 = 38. And if we were using the best 6, we would have to re-calculate our best 6 subjects excluding Life Orientation.
Rule 4: Minimum Subject Requirements (Very Important!)
Universities will often have minimum subject requirements for specific courses.
This means you must have passed certain subjects (like Mathematics, English, or a specific Science) at a certain level (percentage or APS points) to even be considered for the course, regardless of your overall APS.
Action: Carefully read the admission requirements for each course you are interested in.
Look for sentences like: “Minimum requirements: Mathematics Level 4, English Level 3, APS of 30.”
How it works: You need to meet both the minimum subject requirements and the minimum APS score to be eligible for a course. Meeting one but not the other is usually not enough.
6. Double-Check and Understand Your Score
Action:
Review all your calculations: Go back through each step and make sure you didn’t make any mistakes. Did you use the correct APS scale? Did you add up the points correctly? If you had to pick your best subjects, did you choose the right ones?
Check against university requirements: Once you have your final APS score, look at the admission requirements for the courses you are interested in.
- Do you meet the minimum APS score?
- Do you meet the minimum subject requirements?
Understand what your score means:
Higher APS is generally better. It increases your chances of getting into more competitive courses.
Meeting the minimum APS doesn’t guarantee admission. Many courses are competitive, and they might have more applicants than places. A higher APS gives you a better chance.
If your APS is lower than you hoped: Don’t be discouraged!
- Look for courses with lower APS requirements that still interest you.
- See if there are ways to improve your score for future applications (if possible, depending on your education system).
- Explore alternative pathways to university (like bridging programs or diplomas that can lead to degree studies).
Example Summary (Using Best 6 Subjects and No Life Orientation)
Let’s recalculate our example, assuming:
- The university counts your best 6 subjects.
- Life Orientation is NOT counted.
Original Subject APS Points (from before):
- Mathematics: 6
- English: 7
- Science: 5
- History: 7
- Art: 7
- Geography: 6
- Life Orientation: 7 (But we are not counting this one)
Subjects to consider for best 6 (excluding Life Orientation):
- Mathematics: 6
- English: 7
- Science: 5
- History: 7
- Art: 7
- Geography: 6
Best 6 Subjects (picking the highest APS points):
- English (7)
- History (7)
- Art (7)
- Mathematics (6)
- Geography (6)
And we need one more, let’s take the next highest, which is English or History or Art again – but we’ve already taken them once in our best 6, so we’d move to the next highest available, which would be Mathematics or Geography again – also already taken.
Ah, wait, we need to pick six different subjects if possible from the list available (unless rules specify otherwise and allow repeating subject types, which is unlikely for APS).
Let’s re-evaluate our best 6 based on highest APS points from different subjects:
Revised Best 6 Subjects (trying to pick different subjects, with highest APS value possible):
- English (7)
- History (7)
- Art (7)
- Geography (6)
- Mathematics (6)
We’ve picked 5 subjects. The only one left to consider from our list (excluding Life Orientation and already picked subjects) is Science with 5 APS points. Is there a better 6th subject we missed?
No, from our initial list, Science is the next best option. So, let’s use Science.
Science (5)
APS Score (Best 6, excluding Life Orientation) = 7 + 7 + 7 + 6 + 6 + 5 = 38
Final Reminders for Success:
- Always use the correct APS conversion scale from the university you are applying to.
- Carefully read and understand all the APS rules for each university and course.
- Don’t guess! If you are unsure about anything, contact the university’s admissions office for help.
- Calculate your APS early so you have time to plan and ask questions.
- Keep a record of your APS calculations for each university you apply to.
You’ve got this! Take it step-by-step, be organized, and don’t hesitate to ask for help. Good luck with your university applications!