- 19 Oct, 2026
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Do Cambridge, IB and Edexcel Students Need to Write the NBTs?
International qualifications
Do Cambridge, IB and Edexcel Students Need to Write the NBTs?
Most families assume an international qualification puts you outside the National Benchmark Tests. The universities that use them do not see it that way, and the line they actually draw has nothing to do with which curriculum you studied.
For parents and school-leaversDo Cambridge, IB and Edexcel students need to write the NBTs?
Usually yes, if you are at school in South Africa, but the qualification is not what decides it. The National Benchmark Tests are set by each university and faculty, not by the curriculum you studied. UCT requires every undergraduate applicant normally resident or at school in South Africa to write the NBTs, whatever certificate they hold. Other universities require them only for certain faculties, so the reliable answer comes from the institution you apply to.
That is the opposite of what most families expect. The assumption is that a Cambridge, IB or Edexcel learner sits outside a system built around the National Senior Certificate. The universities draw the line somewhere else entirely: around where you live and what you want to study.
What are the NBTs?
They are entry-level assessments run by the Centre for Educational Assessments at the University of Cape Town, used by many South African universities to interpret school-leaving results. There are two: the Academic and Quantitative Literacy test, written as one paper and scored as two components, and the Mathematics test.
The NBT Project is explicit that the tests sit alongside your school results rather than replacing them:
“The test results support, but don’t replace or duplicate, NSC results.” The NBT Project also notes that some institutions use the tests for admission and others use them to decide whether you will need extra academic support once you are studying.
So a university may use your NBT score to decide whether to admit you, or simply to work out what support to put in place. Those are very different uses of the same number, and which one applies to you depends on where you apply.
Does your qualification decide whether you write the NBTs?
No. Nothing in the NBT system keys off whether you studied Cambridge, IB, Edexcel or the NSC. The NBT Project states plainly that the faculty or department decides which tests you write, and tells applicants to confirm with the institution directly.
Its own wording leaves little room for interpretation:
“The faculty or department will determine which test/s you must write and the deadlines for receiving your results.” And, separately: “Find out from the institution you are applying to whether you are required to write the tests.”
This is why a blanket answer on this question is worth distrusting, including a blanket answer in the other direction. Two learners with identical IB results can face different NBT requirements because they applied to different faculties.
What does UCT require from international qualification holders?
UCT publishes a dedicated guide for holders of international school-leaving certificates, and it requires the NBTs from every undergraduate applicant who is normally resident or at school in South Africa, plus every Health Sciences applicant wherever they live. International applicants to the undergraduate LLB write the academic literacy part.
The sentence is worth reading closely, because it is the one that catches families by surprise:
“All undergraduate applicants who are normally resident or at school in South Africa must write the NBTs, and all applicants to programmes in the Faculty of Health Sciences must write the NBTs wherever they reside.” From UCT’s Guidelines for holders of international school-leaving certificates.
Read it against a typical Apex family. A learner doing Cambridge A Levels at a school in Johannesburg is normally resident and at school in South Africa. The guide is written for her, and it puts her inside the requirement. The international certificate changes nothing.
One more line from the same guide is worth knowing early, because it is structural rather than procedural: “Applicants who have written only IGCSE subjects or equivalent examinations, and who are not writing any other secondary school-leaving examination, are not eligible for admission to UCT.” IGCSE on its own is not a school-leaving qualification for this purpose.
Do all South African universities require them?
No, and this is the clearest proof that the rule is institutional. Wits requires the NBTs for all Faculty of Science applicants and all Faculty of Health Sciences applicants, and within Humanities only for Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology. Other faculties there do not require them at all.
Wits also attaches conditions that UCT does not:
| What Wits specifies | Detail |
|---|---|
| Health Sciences | Must be written in person. Online NBT results are not considered |
| Science | All applicants must write before being considered for admission |
| Humanities | Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology only |
| Validity | Results are valid for three years |
| Which attempt counts | Only the first attempt in the most recent year is considered |
| Exemptions | Health Sciences applicants who already hold an undergraduate degree, or are in their final year of one |
That last pair matters more than it looks. If a university counts only your first attempt in a year, then writing early “just to see” is not a free trial. Check the rule at your university before you book a date.
Which of the two tests must you write?
Where NBTs apply, the Academic and Quantitative Literacy test is the common requirement. The Mathematics test is added when the programme involves mathematics-based coursework. UCT puts it simply: applicants to all faculties write the AQL, and those entering a mathematics-based programme also write the Mathematics test.
A practical detail that catches people out: if you are writing both, they happen together. The NBT Project states “You must write both AQL and MAT tests on the same day.” Plan the day accordingly rather than treating them as two bookings.
The AQL is scored as two separate components even though it is one paper, so you will see an academic literacy result and a quantitative literacy result. The NBT Project notes that the quantitative literacy test is closely related to the intended outcomes of Mathematical Literacy, which is a useful signal about what it is testing: reading and reasoning with numbers in context, rather than the formal mathematics of the Mathematics paper.
Can you write the NBTs from outside South Africa?
Yes. The NBT Project runs a remote writer route for applicants who are in another country, or too far from a testing centre to travel a reasonable distance. UCT confirms the tests “can be arranged to be taken anywhere in the world”.
Registration for that route is by email to nbtremote@uct.ac.za rather than through the standard booking flow. This is the part of the system that genuinely is built with international candidates in mind, which is worth knowing if your family is relocating or your child is finishing a qualification abroad.
There is a second, separate place the NBTs appear for international applicants: English language proficiency. UCT accepts an NBT Academic Literacy Test Plus report, no more than three years old, with an overall score of Upper Intermediate or above, as one way of proving it. IELTS, TOEFL iBT and PTE Academic are the alternatives. This requirement applies to applicants who have not passed English at an English medium-of-instruction institution, so many Cambridge, IB and Edexcel learners will not need it at all.
How do you prepare for the NBTs?
Not with past papers, because there are none. The NBT Project states that the tests are confidential and that no past papers or special study materials exist. What you can do is strengthen the underlying ability the tests draw on: reading dense academic text accurately, reasoning with numbers in context, and the mathematics you have already been taught.
The NBT Project is direct about this, and it is worth quoting because the internet is full of people selling the opposite:
“The tests are confidential, so there are no past papers and no special study materials to prepare for the tests.” The tests ask you to apply prior learning, what you already know and can do, to material pitched at first-year university expectations.
Treat anything advertised as an official NBT past paper with suspicion. Familiarity with the format is reasonable to want, and the NBT website is where to look for it. Beyond that, the honest preparation is the ordinary one: be genuinely strong in mathematics and comfortable reading at length.
Accommodations exist. The NBT Project states that students with disabilities are accommodated, and that the academic literacy test has been translated into Braille. Arrange that through the NBT Project when you register rather than on the day.
How does this fit with matriculation exemption?
They are two separate requirements and you may need both. Matriculation exemption is about whether your qualification lets you enter a South African university at all, and it is handled by Universities South Africa’s Matriculation Board. The NBTs are about assessing readiness once you are eligible to apply.
UCT handles them as separate steps: “Before making you an offer, the faculty will ensure that you are eligible for matriculation exemption.” Applications for the certificate go to the Matriculation Board at mb.usaf.ac.za.
Exemption is the bigger and more misunderstood of the two, and it has its own article: what matriculation exemption is and who needs it. If you are holding a Cambridge, IB or Edexcel certificate and planning a South African university application, read that one first and treat the NBTs as the step that follows.
Where Apex fits, and where it does not
Apex does not register anyone for the NBTs, does not administer them and is not an examination centre. Booking is done directly with the NBT Project at nbt.ac.za, and the requirement itself comes from your university.
What a tutor can do is the part that actually moves a score: the mathematics and the academic reading the tests draw on. Our tutors work across Cambridge, IB, Pearson Edexcel, IEB and CAPS, so a learner preparing for a South African university application from an international curriculum is working with someone who knows both sides of that gap.
Before you do anything else, email or phone the admissions office of each university on your list and ask two questions: does my programme require the NBTs, and by when must the results be in. Everything else follows from those two answers, and they take one call to get.
Frequently asked questions
Do IB students have to write the NBTs in South Africa?
It depends on the university and faculty, not on the IB. UCT requires the NBTs from every undergraduate applicant normally resident or at school in South Africa, so an IB learner at a South African school is included. Wits requires them only for Science, Health Sciences and two Humanities programmes. Confirm with each university you apply to.
Do Cambridge A Level students write the NBTs?
At UCT, yes, if they are normally resident or at school in South Africa. The guide for holders of international school-leaving certificates makes no exception for Cambridge. At other universities it depends on the faculty, so check each one. Holding A Levels does not exempt you.
Are the NBTs the same as matriculation exemption?
No. Matriculation exemption is a certificate from Universities South Africa’s Matriculation Board confirming your qualification allows university entry in South Africa. The NBTs are assessments of academic readiness used by universities. You may need both, and they are applied for separately.
How much do the NBTs cost?
The NBT website lists R195 for the AQL alone and R390 for the AQL and Mathematics tests together, with a re-mark at R250. Fees change, so confirm the current amount on nbt.ac.za when you book. Applicants are responsible for their own test costs.
Can you write the NBTs from another country?
Yes. The NBT Project has a remote writer route for candidates in another country or too far from a testing centre to travel a reasonable distance, and UCT confirms the tests can be arranged anywhere in the world. Register for that route by emailing nbtremote@uct.ac.za.
Are there NBT past papers?
No. The NBT Project states that the tests are confidential and that no past papers or special study materials exist. Anything advertised as an official NBT past paper should be treated with caution. Preparation means strengthening your mathematics and academic reading, not drilling a paper.
How long are NBT results valid?
Wits states that NBT results are valid for three years and that only the first attempt in the most recent year is considered. Validity and which attempt counts are set by each university, so check before writing a second time. The NBT Project advises confirming with your faculty that a second score will be accepted.
Which NBT tests does my child need to write?
Where the NBTs apply, the Academic and Quantitative Literacy test is the common requirement, and the Mathematics test is added for programmes with mathematics-based coursework. If both are required they are written on the same day. The faculty determines which tests you write.
International curricula, South African universities
The test rewards the maths you already know.
There are no NBT past papers to drill, so the preparation that counts is genuine strength in mathematics and academic reading. Our tutors work across Cambridge, IB, Pearson Edexcel, IEB and CAPS, and know both sides of that gap.