In South Africa, getting a degree can lead to more job options, higher pay, and a better chance of moving up the educational ladder. When someone gets an honours degree, they have the chance to become even more specialised in their field. This enhances their experience and knowledge within that specified field of study.
UNISA, being a well-known university, offers a variety of degrees and qualifications, including honours degrees. It is considered Africa’s latest university, determined to give bigger opportunities to people all over the world. UNISA has created more opportunities for Indian students to study both on campus and online.
UNISA offers different qualifications, including short courses, diplomas, honours degrees, bachelor’s degrees, master’s degrees, and many more.
In this blog article, we will dive more into honours degrees at the University of South Africa. We will give insight into its requirements, qualification duration, and many more.
How to apply for Unisa honours degree?
A UNISA honours degree is a great option for individuals looking to progress in their education after a bachelor’s degree. An honours degree gives leverage to individuals advancing in their career, job, or special field of study.
A wide range of courses is available for the UNISA degree, and the option for application is available to all once you are eligible.
One can apply for UNISA honours degree by following these steps
- Register your details on the UNISA platform; individuals who have registered can log in with their details
- Once logged in, select the required course or program you wish to pursue
- Proceed to fill in your personal information, including your grades, experience, qualifications etc
- Upload all supporting documents requested by UNISA and click submit
- Ensure to pay the correct application fee and submit it online
- Once done, you will receive an email from UNISA regarding your honour degree application
- Once your application is received, you must wait a few weeks before acceptance to take a UNISA honours degree course.
When can I apply for Honours at Unisa 2026?
When it comes to being admitted into the University of South Africa, the year in question actually means your application must have been submitted a year before. Due to the number of volumes that UNISA receives every year, the academic calendar is designed to help the institution facilitate academic work and admission for many. Therefore, the application window is opened earlier in order to give applicants and the institution enough time.
If you are looking to apply for honours at UNISA in 2026, you must do it within the time specified by UNISA. However, if you seek admission to UNISA in 2026, your application process must have been completed in 2026.
For the 2027 academic year, Unisa’s normal honours and postgraduate-diploma application window ran from 17 August to 9 October 2026. As of 22 October 2026, that published window has closed. Check Unisa’s current admission guidance for any qualification-specific exceptions.
How do you qualify for an honours degree?
When applying for a UNISA honours degree, the qualification aims to ensure that applicants meet the standards set by UNISA.
The qualification procedure for an honours degree is straightforward. To qualify, you must have completed your bachelor’s degree within the academic year given, passed all your modules, and graduated within that scope. However, there are special cases where UNISA can allow applicants who have no degree to get a chance to have an honours degree qualification.
A degree earned must follow the same course routing as your honours degree. A field in economics in a bachelor’s degree at UNISA must precede a field within the same field.
How much is the application fee at Unisa for honours degree?
It is a requirement that all applicants or prospective students pay the application fee for any academic qualification. These fees are used in the application process to make the system easy for individuals. The cost of the application fee at the University of South Africa for an honours degree is R125. Without paying this R125 application fee, your application to UNISA will become void and null.
How many years is honours degree at Unisa?
It is important to know the number of years for a paraprofessional qualification before putting in your application. Knowing the years to complete that qualification can prepare you prior to the application and also right after completion.
Many people confuse the duration of an honours degree with that of a master’s. The number of years required to complete an honours degree at UNISA is one year. Remember, one year can hold two semesters at the University of South Africa. Within a 12-month period, one can finish his or her honours degree at UNISA.
How to calculate APS score for honours at Unisa?
Thus, the grading for the various percentages you receive in each application determines the points in the APS score. These are the criteria that UNISA has established to assign each point for every paper. Students can learn more about the APS score by knowing the eczema percentage and tallying it with the scores associated with that percentage. For example, a percentage on paper of 80% can be equal to 7 points on the UNISA grading system.
This way, it is up to you, the individuals, to keep adding the points you get for every percentage of your exams until all papers have been considered for your honours degree.
Are honours better than Bachelor’s?
The question of honours being better than a bachelor’s can be very relative; however, in our world now, an honours degree carries a lot more weight within the academic sphere.
By and large, a course offered in honours can be regarded as better than another course in bachelors. And these are checked based on the demand for those courses, their prerequisites, eligibility, and job field.
There is no standard set by UNISA or other universities giving a fact about honours being better than bachelors.
Truthfully, having an honours degree can be better than having a bachelor’s since you need a bachelor’s to be eligible for an honours degree.
An honours degree is an additional level of study following a bachelor’s; therefore, an honour can be regarded better than a bachelor’s degree.
