NBT Preparation
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You need to check the following before you book for the NBT:

• Your school’s calendar for sporting and social events, holidays and exams
• Closing dates and application deadlines at all institutions where you intend to apply
• The language of instruction where you are applying

All this needs to be taken into consideration when you are deciding when the best time is to write your NBTs. Registration for the NBTs is done online and takes about 5 minutes. NBT registration 2026 intake opened on the 1st of April 2025. Follow this link to book your test. Note: you will need your official South African ID or foreign passport in order to complete the registration process. To register you need to go to the NBT website. Watch the video below for a helpful walk-through.

 

In 2025, the fees are:

• R185 for AQL only
• R370 for AQL + MAT

 

Tests run from 18 May to 5 October 2025. When you register, you'll choose one test session (online or in-person) that suits you best. You only need to write the NBTs once — so plan it carefully!

NBT stands for National Benchmark Test. This is an examination set up by the National Benchmark Test Project. The NBT is a set of tests used to assess a learner’s academic literacy, general knowledge, and mathematical skill in an effort to measure academic readiness for university. The NBT tests were implemented in 2008 and are managed by the Alternative Admissions Research Project at the University of Cape Town. NBT results are used by many universities as an extra admission criterion for applicants to their institutions. They serve to complement and support, rather than replace or duplicate NSC results.

It depends on the university you're applying to. Some universities want NBT scores by specific dates, often linked to early application deadlines. Here’s what we recommend:

1. Check your university deadlines first.

2. Count back 4 weeks (to allow time for results to be released).

3. Book your test at least 4 weeks before your earliest deadline.

NBT results are valid for two intake years. This means that it is worthwhile writing your NBT in your Matric year even if you are having a gap year. Your syllabus will never be fresher in your mind as it is now. If you cannot write the NBTs in the year before your studies (if, for example, you are overseas), you are allowed to write them in January before the start of the academic year. Bear in mind, however, that you do expose yourself to special risks and practical implications in terms of placement and selection if you write the tests at such a late stage. It is therefore strongly recommended that you write the NBTs in your Matric year.

The National Benchmark Tests (NBTs) consist of two sections: AQL (Academic and Quantitative Literacy) and MAT (Mathematics). Both are multiple-choice tests, each lasting 3 hours.

• AQL Test: Divided into two parts—Academic Literacy and Quantitative Literacy. Each part lasts 25 minutes, and you cannot skip or return to previous questions once the section ends.

• MAT Test: The Mathematics section has no time divisions, allowing you to complete it within the full 3-hour duration. It covers areas like algebra, functions, trigonometry, and calculus.

Before heading to your NBT test, make sure you bring the following essential items:

1. Identification: Your South African ID book, passport, or a certified receipt of application for an ID.
2. Registration Documents: Your registration letter and proof of payment. You will need to show this to the venue administrator. They will stamp the receipt and return it to you.
3. Stationery: Two HB pencils, an eraser, and a pencil sharpener.
4. Food and Drink: If you're writing both tests, bring lunch and water to keep yourself refreshed.

What Not to Bring:

• Calculators
• Rulers
• Dictionaries
• Scrap paper, notebooks, iPads, tablets, or phones

Important Note: Learners without an official ID will not be allowed to write the NBTs, except in cases where the following documentation is provided:

• Birth certificate with an affidavit from the police (including a recent photograph)
• A letter of application for an ID from Home Affairs.

Be sure to check your registration details and bring everything you need!

Click here to go to the NBT results request page.  

• Do I have to send my results to the universities I am applying to? The universities request your results from the NBT you do not send them to the university. The NBT charges the University to release the results to them and the 1 test will apply to all universities that require it.
• Didn't get the results that you wanted? We offer a few online courses that will help increase your results. Our NBT Preparation Online Course will help you improve your MAT and AQL results.

Which institutions will use my NBT results and how do they get them? All the universities to which you apply can receive your NBT results. Many South African universities use the NBTs in conjunction with the National Senior Certificate (NSC) for access to their programmes. The NBTs help to interpret your NSC results and can be used by universities in different ways.

• Some use them to help make decisions about your access/application to university. This means that your NBT results, in combination with your matric results, are used to determine whether you are ready for academic study.
• Some universities use the results for placement within the institution. This means that your NBT results are used to decide whether you will need extra academic support after you have been accepted to university.
• Some institutions use them to develop curricula within their university.

When you apply to an institution, they will place your name on their applicant list. As applications are processed, they send the NBT Project a request for scores that match the applicants on the list. Universities will only get your results when they request them. Before you submit your registration to write the NBT, you are asked to check a box giving permission for your results to be sent to the requesting institutions and for your results to be used in research projects. Be sure to read this and check this box before hitting “submit”. Remember, it is your responsibility to check whether your NBT results have been loaded with your tertiary institution.

Some universities do allow their applicants to write the NBT more than once in an attempt to achieve a better result the second time around. However you need to check with the specific faculty and tertiary institution that you are applying to, to make sure that this is the case as not every university will accept the second result. Note If you do choose to write a second time, you should give yourself at least 6 weeks between writing sessions. If you write the MAT test a second time, you must also write the AQL test a second time on the same morning.

National Benchmark Test Project

• Email: [email protected]
• Telephone: 021 650 3523
• Website: www.nbt.ac.za

Additional NBT resources

• NBT Brochure click here for more info.
• More about the NBTs click here.
• More about the NBTs online click here.
• Book your NBT test click here.
• NBT 2024 Test Dates click here
• NBT test sites click here for more info.
• To request your NBT Test Scores Log into your NBT account here.

University info

• University of Cape Town click here for more info.
• Wits University Click here for more info.
• Stellenbosch University click here for more info.
• Rhodes University click here for more info.
• University of Pretoria click here for more info.
• University of the Free State click here for more info.

These National Benchmark Test knowledge base articles are provided for general information purposes only. While every effort has been used to ensure the accuracy and integrity of these articles using multiple online sources as well as our own information gained from experience, the use of any part of these articles are at your own risk. The provision of these articles does not constitute legal advice or opinions of any kind, or any advertising or solicitation. No lawyer-client, advisory, fiduciary or other relationship is created between Advantage Learning Technologies (Pty) Ltd and any person accessing or otherwise using these articles. Advantage Learning Technologies (Pty) Ltd and its affiliates (and any of their respective directors, officers, agents, contractors, interns, suppliers and employees) will not be liable for any damages, losses or causes of action of any nature arising from the use of these articles or the provision of these articles. These articles are the property of Advantage Learning Technologies (Pty) Ltd. Advantage Learning Technologies (Pty) Ltd in no way presents this on behalf of the official National Benchmark Tests Project and is not affiliated in any way whatsoever. © Advantage Learning Technologies (Pty) Ltd

Unlike the US and the UK and many other countries that model their education system around standardised assessments (eg. SATs, ACTs etc) our South African school system more commonly uses summative, continuous and formative styles of assessment (for an explanation of these styles read more here). The NBTs are a standardised assessment and thus this form of assessment is not common for many  South African learners. So how does this form of standardised assessment differ from the usual forms of assessment employed? Here are some examples:   We could go on for ages but I think you get the message, it is very different to what you are used to!

Writers are reminded that the test is undertaken in a secure proctored online environment. You will be monitored throughout the test to ensure that you follow all testing procedures. Your entire test session will be recorded. You may only have a piece of paper and a pen/pencil in the test room. Books, cell phones, smartwatches, calculators, and any other items are strictly prohibited. Please ensure that you comply with all test requirements to avoid the invalidation of your test. Instructions will be provided on screen.

The AQL is written in the morning (3 hours writing time). The MAT is written in the afternoon on the same day, with a short lunch break between the two tests. The MAT also has 3 hours of writing time. No learner is allowed to start at midday to write just the MAT test. If you are writing the MAT test, you must write it on the same day as you write the AQL test.

Degree	Recommended Test Date	MAT or AQL	NBT result to aim for
			MAT	AL	QL
Medicine	Before 1st July	Both	90%	70%	80%
Engineering & Built Environment	Before 1st July	Both	80%	65%	80%
Business Science	Before August	Both	75%	65%	60%
BCom	Before August	Both	60%	60%	50%
Health Science	Before August	Both	70%	70%	70%
BSc	Before Trial exams	Both	65%	65%	60%
BA Law	Before Trial exams	AQL	-	60%	50%

*Each institution determines which tests are required i.e the university and faculty where you apply will determine which tests you must write (AQL or MAT, or both). Please check with each institution/faculty where you intend to apply, before you register for the NBTs with regards to their application requirements including closing dates and deadlines for receiving NBT results. Please note that each university has different requirements and each faculty may require different tests or have different deadlines.

There are two NBTs:

• AQL (Academic Literacy & Quantitative Literacy) – required by all universities that require the National Benchmark Tests.
• MAT (Mathematics) – required only if the course you’re applying to needs Maths (e.g. Engineering, Medicine, Commerce, etc.).

Not sure if you need MAT? Check the requirements on your university’s website or ask their admissions team. Alternatively download our NBT university requirements guide to learn more!

• The AQL (compulsory for all learners who are required to write the NBT) aims to test proficiency in language comprehension as well as logic-based numerical skills. It assesses knowledge learned in the senior high school phase. It aims to assess whether learners will be able to apply knowledge learnt in high school to the tertiary context. The AQL section comprises approximately 75 multiple-choice questions.

1. 1. The Academic Literacy (AL) sections will require reading of various texts with multiple choice questions referring to the text. Some questions are general knowledge-based. Questions on grammar, punctuation, vocabulary are included. It predominantly assesses the ability to understand the meaning and application of various texts as well as understanding and applying the argument or main point of the author.
   2. The Quantitative Literacy (QL) sections assess a student’s capacity to: understand basic numerical concepts, read and interpret graphs, reason logically and identify patterns and trends. It is largely based on the Grade 11 Maths Literacy syllabus.

• The MAT paper is a separate three hour paper (only written by learners applying for certain degree programmes and who have done Core Maths at school) and assesses mostly Grade 11 Core Maths syllabus content although some Grade 12 work is included, depending on the time of year the assessment is written. It also takes a multiple-choice format. It tests proficiency in such areas as problem solving and modeling, functions, trigonometry, spatial perception, and probability.

Both the AQL and MAT are differentiated into cognitive levels, meaning there is a range in difficulty in each section – with the easier applications generally coming first.

It is important to attend an NBT workshop in your Grade 12 year. It does not matter when you attend an NBT workshop. The important thing is to make sure you utilise the online course in the 2 weeks leading up to the NBTs to make sure the content is fresh for when you write the test. If you are a post Matric learner needing to sit the NBT then we highly recommend you re-study your Grade 11 Mathematics before attending a workshop. You can do so through our Maths Online Grade 11 Path. To view our NBT Preparation courses click here.