http://hdl.handle.net/11090/984 Mon, 11 May 2026 18:50:03 GMT 2026-05-11T18:50:03Z http://hdl.handle.net/11090/1060 Extended Curriculum Programmes and Student Trajectories in South African Higher Education. Evidence from Linked Administrative Data, 2012–2022 Branson, Nicola; Whitelaw, Emma Extended Curriculum Programmes (ECPs) form a central pillar of South Africa’s strategy to promote equity and improve student success in higher education. By embedding foundational provision within extended qualification pathways, ECPs aim to support students from disadvantaged schooling backgrounds while maintaining academic standards. Since the 2012 Foundation Provision reforms, ECPs have expanded system-wide and now represent a substantial and ongoing fiscal commitment. This report evaluates whether ECP enrolment improves student outcomes relative to mainstream pathways under the contemporary policy framework. Using system-wide linked administrative data from the Higher Education Management Information System (HEMIS), National Senior Certificate (NSC) records, and National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) data, the analysis follows first-time entering students between 2012 and 2022 to assess their outcomes in the public higher education system in South Africa. This report was prepared with financial support from the Council on Higher Education (CHE). The authors gratefully acknowledge this support. Mercy Alaso provided valuable research assistance in compiling and synthesising the historical and policy context of Extended Curriculum Programmes. Kauthar Hoossen’s literature review, originally prepared as part of her honours thesis, informed the construction and organisation of the literature review section of this report. Any remaining errors or interpretations are the responsibility of the authors alone. Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/11090/1060 2026-04-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/11090/1042 Can a holistic coaching and referral programme enhance well-being and employability amongst NEET youth? De Lannoy, Ariane; Graham, Lauren; Grotte, Joanna In response to high and increasing rates of youth unemployment and a growing cohort of youth who are not in employment, education and training (NEET), the Basic Package of Support (BPS) for youth was developed. It takes as its starting point that young people who are disconnected from learning and earning opportunities are often in this situation because of the multiple barriers they face, arising from the structural and multifaceted nature of poverty. Furthermore, when they try to access services to help them overcome these challenges, they experience these services as being isolating and unfriendly. The BPS set out to address these dual challenges by introducing a youth-centred programme that proactively reaches out to disconnected and discouraged NEET youth, engages them in a holistic assessment of their lives, coaches them to understand what they want to achieve in life, and actively refers them to available services and opportunities that can enable them to overcome barriers and connect them to learning and earning opportunities. Simultaneously, it engages local service providers that young people are likely to engage with, and invites them to collaborate in a Community of Practice aimed at building a stronger understanding of their role in supporting young people’s transitions to learning and earning, and at developing active problem solving and collaboration to improve service delivery to youth. The programme’s dual aims are a) to improve young people’s well-being, sense of belonging, and navigational capacity so that they are able to (re)connect to learning and earning opportunities and stay in these opportunities for longer periods of time; and b) to improve service delivery to young people in local communities so that youth no longer “fall through the cracks”, and are better supported in their transitions towards learning and earning. The programme was piloted between the beginning of 2022 and the end of 2023 in several sites in Gauteng, KwaZulu Natal and the Western Cape. In this report we present data on the profile of young people who take up the BPS opportunity, and what their well-being, navigational capacity and employability outcomes are as they progress through the programme. We draw on qualitative and quantitative data derived from a concurrent triangulation mixed methods design that formed the basis of the monitoring and evaluation during the pilot phase. These findings demonstrate improved outcomes across several domains of well-being including self-reported quality of life, mental health and sense of support. They also show improved ability to handle stress and access to services – indicators of improved navigational capacity. Finally, we see that by the time participants have completed three coaching sessions almost 40% of them have reconnected to some form of learning or earning opportunity. The findings demonstrate that young people who take up an individualised, multifaceted coaching programme experience improvements in their lives that draw them closer to opportunity, and that indeed, two-fifths are able to make connections to learning and earning again, even after a small number of sessions with a coach. What remains to be understood is whether young people stay in these opportunities to completion, and whether the programme places them on a better footing for longer term trajectories towards sustainable work and learning. The report provides evidence of the value of individualised coaching and referrals for particularly vulnerable young people for whom more support to connect to opportunity seems to be necessary. Fri, 01 Nov 2024 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/11090/1042 2024-11-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/11090/1002 The Siyaphambili Website: An interactive platform to track South Africa’s post-school qualification attainment Branson, Nicola; Culligan, Samantha; Ingle, Kim The Siyaphambili website is a product of the Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit (SALDRU) post-school education and training research project at the University of Cape Town and was funded by the Kresge Foundation. SALDRU and UCT participate in Siyaphumelela ("we succeed") which supports South African universities' ability to improve student learning and academic success.Inspired by the Lumina Foundation’s Stronger Nation interactive website, which tracks American qualifications beyond high school, this website provides a platform to track qualification attainment in South Africa. The graphs on this website are based on analysis of publicly available StatsSA data. The tables containing the values shown in the graphs are downloadable in Excel format.A strong motivator behind this website is the need to share information and create awareness about our country’s skills needs. Goal 2030 provides a reference against which to measure year-on-year progress in qualification attainment. The project team recognises that South African post-school qualifications information is available, but not in an interactive format. This website exists to create such a platform to support policymakers and the general public to identify how South Africa can achieve its ambitions. Thu, 01 Oct 2020 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/11090/1002 2020-10-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/11090/1001 Student ability to learn at home Whitelaw, Emma; Culligan, Samantha; Branson, Nicola The rise of the Covid-19 pandemic led South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, to declare a national state of disaster on 15 March 2020. In response to the announcement, tertiary education institutions and student residences around the country closed in order to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. These institutions were required to come up with remote teaching and learning solutions in a relatively short period of time. While virtual classes on personal tablets may have become the global norm, many South African students lack access to internet and data connectivity, and may rely on shared or mobile devices off which to learn. In addition, glaring structural inequalities plague a multitude of socio-economic factors in South Africa. These factors shape the household environment in which many students have found themselves, and in which they have been expected to learn new academic material. Thu, 01 Oct 2020 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/11090/1001 2020-10-01T00:00:00Z