Definitions
9. The Council shall endorse senior certificates that have to be endorsed in terms of paragraphs 3, 4, and 5 on the first day of the month following the month in which the requirements for endorsement were satisfied: Provided that in the case of a candidate who satisfied the requirements for endorsement at two or more examination sittings, the dates on which the subjects were passed at the relevant examination sittings shall also be indicated on the senior certificate. Exemption Certificates
Definitions

In this schedule, any word or expression to which a meaning has been assigned by the Act, bears that meaning and unless the context indicates otherwise-

“Advanced Level subject” means a subject passed at Advanced Level as prescribed for the examinations of the examining bodies mentioned in Annexure I;

“Advanced Subsidiary subject” means any subject offered for and passed with a symbol A, B, C or D at Advanced Subsidiary Level or Advanced Supplementary Level as prescribed for the examinations of the examining bodies mentioned in Annexure I;

“ASECA subject” means a subject as approved by the Committee of Principals passed at A Secondary Education Curriculum for Adults (ASECA) level;

“certificate of complete exemption” means a certificate issued by the Committee of Principals in terms of the provisions of section 7(1)(e) and (3) of the Act, admitting a candidate to bachelor’s degree study at a South African university without any conditions or limitations;

“certificate of conditional exemption” means a certificate issued by the Committee of Principals in terms of the provisions of section 7(1)(e) and (3) of the Act, admitting a candidate to bachelor’s degree study at a South African university, subject to specified conditions and for a specified period;

“Council” means the council as defined in section 1 of the General and Further Education and Training Quality Assurance Act of 2001 (Act No. 58 of 2001);

“education department” means an education department of a province of the Republic of South Africa;

“endorse” means the effecting of an endorsement by the Council that a senior certificate candidate has satisfied the requirements for matriculation endorsement in terms of section 7(1)(d) of the Act;

“examination sitting” means a main examination sitting. A supplementary examination sitting shall be recognized as part of the main examination sitting for the purpose of endorsement or the issuing of certificates of exemption from the matriculation endorsement requirement –

a. where the supplementary examination sitting is granted for medical or other good reason acceptable to the examining authority; or
b. where the supplementary examination sitting is in a subject or subjects offered at the main examination sitting;

“extra-curricular subject” means a subject, other than a senior certificate subject approved by the Committee of Principals as being equivalent to a senior certificate subject at Higher Grade or Standard Grade;

“First Language Higher Grade equivalence” means a language subject passed in a foreign examination evaluated by the Committee of Principals to be equivalent to a first language Higher Grade subject;

“full-time candidate” means a candidate attending a school on a full-time basis;

“HIGCSE Level subject” means a subject offered for and passed with a symbol of 1, 2 or 3 in the Higher International General Certificate of Secondary Education examination conducted by Cambridge International Examinations and/or the Namibian Ministry of Education in collaboration with the Cambridge International Examinations;

“Higher Grade subject” means a subject offered and passed on the Higher Grade in a senior certificate examination recognised by the Council;

“Higher Level subject” means a subject offered for and passed with a symbol of 1, 2 or 3 in the Namibia Senior Secondary Certificate examination conducted by the Namibian Ministry of Education in collaboration with Cambridge International Examinations, which could be included to mean a HIGCSE Level examinations conducted by Cambridge International Examinations and/or the Namibian Ministry of Education in collaboration with the University of Cambridge Local Examination Syndicate;

“IGCSE Level subject” means a subject offered for and passed with a symbol of A*, A, B or C in the International General Certificate of Secondary Education examination conducted by Cambridge International Examinations and/or the Namibian Ministry of Education in collaboration with Cambridge International Examinations;

“immigrant” means –

a. a child or a dependent of a diplomatic representative of a foreign government accredited in South Africa; or
b. any other person who –
i. first entered a South African school in Grade 7 or a more senior grade; or
ii. having begun his or her schooling at a South African school, has attended school outside South Africa for two or more consecutive years after Grade 6 or its equivalent;

“instructional offering” means a course passed at a university in accordance with the provisions of the Act;

“M Level subject” means a subject offered for and passed at the M Level prescribed for the examinations previously conducted by the Associated Examining Board;

“matriculation examination” means the matriculation examination of the universities conducted by the Matriculation Board prior to 4 September 1992;

“matriculation exemption” means exemption from the matriculation examination conducted by the Matriculation Board prior to 4 September 1992;

“N3 standard” means the standard achieved in a subject at the National Certificate: N3 passed at a South African further education and training college;

“N5 standard” means the standard achieved in a subject at the National Certificate: N5 passed at a South African further education and training college;

“offer and sit” means to enter for, and sit (write) the examination for a subject, or the examinations for a number of subjects: provided that a candidate who:-

a. is found guilty of an irregularity in one or more of these examinations; or
b. is found to have gained any unlawful advantage, in respect of one or more of these examinations, before, on or after the date of the examination or examinations concerned;

will be deemed not to have offered or sat any examination at that sitting, and will not be allowed endorsement or exemption on the grounds of any result in any examination offered and sat at that sitting;

“official language” means Afrikaans, English, isiNdebele, isiXhosa, isiZulu, Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, siSwati, Tshivenda and Xitsonga;

“one full credit of instructional offerings” means a set of instructional offerings which must be passed by a matriculated candidate for a complete first year as prescribed for the degree for which he or she is registered;

“Ordinary Level subject” means any subject offered for and passed with a symbol of A, B or C at the Ordinary Level, the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) level or the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) level prescribed for the examinations conducted by the examining bodies mentioned in Annexure I or the Namibian Ministry of Education;

“part-time candidate” means a candidate not attending school on a full-time basis and includes a private candidate;

“pass in a subject” means obtaining at least 33 1/3 percent of the maximum marks in an official language Second Language Higher Grade, at least 33 1/3 percent of the maximum of marks in any subject on the Standard Grade and at least 40 per cent of the maximum of marks in an ASECA subject or any other Higher Grade subject: Provided that the candidate has not been found guilty of any irregularity in the relevant examination or that he or she did not gain any unlawful advantage before, on or after the date on and time at which the examination concerned was conducted;

“Principal Level subject” means a subject offered for and passed at the Principal Level in the Higher School Certificate examination previously conducted by the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate;

“recognised examination” means a senior certificate examination recognised by the Council, or another examination recognised by the Committee of Principals, for the purpose of admission to bachelor’s degree study at a South African university by virtue of completed qualifications or subjects passed at a standard acceptable to the Committee of Principals;

“school” means a public school or an independent school as defined in terms of the South African Schools Act, 1996 (Act 84 of 1996);

“senior certificate” means a school-leaving certificate with pass marks in at least five Higher Grade or five Standard Grade subjects or a combination of five Higher Grade and Standard Grade subjects, approved by the Committee of Principals and issued by the Council, or an equivalent certificate issued prior to the commencement of section 9 of the South African Certification Council Act, 1986 (Act 85 of 1986);

“Standard Grade subject” means a subject offered and passed on the Standard Grade in a senior certificate examination recognised by the Council;

“subject” means a senior certificate instructional offering at a level acceptable to the Committee of Principals;

“Subsidiary Level subject” means a subject offered for and passed at the Subsidiary Level prescribed for the examinations of the examining bodies mentioned in Annexure I;

“SYSTEM Recovery Programme subject” means a subject as approved by the Committee of Principals passed towards the Students and Youth into Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (SYSTEM) Recovery Programme for the purpose of these requirements;

“the Act” means the Universities Act, 1955 (Act No. 61 of 1955), as amended, read with Section 74 of the Higher Education Act, 1997 (Act No 101 of 1997);

“university language of instruction” means an official language which is designated, by notice by a university to the Committee of Principals and in accordance with the Minister of Education’s higher education language policy, as a university medium of instruction for that university except where used principally as the medium of instruction for the study of that language or its literature.