WHAT IS NASCA MATRIC
NASCA stands for National Senior Certificate for Adult. It is the new Adult Matric offered by the Department of Higher Education and Training and quality assured by Umalusi.
NASCA is at NQF Level 4 and is obtained by passing four subjects with a minimum pass of 50%. Mathematics and one language are compulsory subjects.
WATCH ON YOUTUBE
NASCA stands for National Senior Certificate for Adults. You can obtain a NASCA certificate by passing at least four subjects with a minimum of 50%. The four subjects include two (2) compulsory subjects which are: pure mathematics or quantitative literacy (similar to maths literacy) and a language subject as well as two other subjects of choice from the list of NASCA subjects.
According to Umalusi, the curriculum developer of NASCA and the quality assurer for National Senior Certificate; NASCA is an NQF Level 4 qualification on the General and Further Education and Training Qualifications Sub-framework of the National Qualifications Sub-framework (GFETQSF). NASCA is also registered under SAQA with 120 credits.
It is offered by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) and exams are written in public ABET centres as well as private registered colleges. The first rollout of NASCA will be in June 2022 and the first exams written in June 2023.
NASCA is registered as a 120-credit qualification. Four subjects are required for certification, having equal weighting of 30 credits each.
How long does it take to obtain a NASCA certificate?
The qualification takes one full year to complete with registrations opening in June and exams written in May/June the next year. For example, the first enrolment of NASCA will open in June 2022 and the first exams will be written in May/June 2023.
Minimum Entrance Requirements
There are no minimum entrance requirements for the NASCA. Any student who does not have matric and is 18 years and older automatically qualifies to register for NASCA. This means anyone can enrol for NASCA if they want to do it.
However, in order to cope with the studies and avoid frustrations like failure, difficulty etc, the following minimum prior learning is recommended:
- A student will cope with NASCA much better if they did Grade 9 and above;
- A student who studied and obtained General Education and Training Certificate for Adults (GETCA)
- A student who has any SAQA-registered NQF Level 2 or 3 qualification with language and mathematics as fundamentals.
It is good news that no entry requirements are needed, however note that students will not just pass it with no effort at all. The studies are designed to challenge students and require that they prepare, study, practice before they sit for the final exams.
After all, remember this is a National Senior Certificate, so expect it to challenge you. But the good part is that you need only four subjects to obtain the qualification.
The demands of the subjects will require the following from students:
How to obtain NASCA-Structure of the Qualification
The qualification is obtained by passing four (4) subjects under NASCA with a minimum pass mark of 50% on each subject. Subjects offered and conditions on choosing your subjects.
The following are the conditions on subject choice:
o NASCA requires that you do two compulsory subjects which are Mathematics (Maths Core) or Quantitative Literacy (Mathematical Literacy) as well as one language of choice.
o A minimum of two (2) additional subjects selected from: an additional official language, Natural Sciences (Biology, Physics and Chemistry), Information and Communication Technology, Human and Social Sciences (History and Geography), Economic and Management Sciences (Economics, Business and Finance).
o Languages to choose from are: Afrikaans, English, IsiNdebele, IsiXhosa, IsiZulu, Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, SiSwati, Tshivenda, Xitsonga.
Due to similarities in some languages, the following is a further condition on languages. Since you are allowed to choose two languages, a student may not choose more than one language from each of the following language groups due to similarities:
o IsiNdebele, IsiXhosa, IsiZulu and SeSwati;
o Sepedi, Sesotho and Setswana.
NB: Students are allowed to do more than the minimum requirement of four subjects depending on your career path and university requirements. These will be included in your certificate.
