Many people, whilst still at school, will say that they don’t need matric. They will say that studying for a matric certificate is useless, because they won’t get a job anyway. These people are WRONG. With a matric certificate, you can:

• Find a full-time job that allows for growth opportunities, i.e. promotion.
• Enrol for hundreds of courses that will allow you to launch a career in almost any field imaginable.
• Provide a steady home for your family.

You could also look at your matric certificate in the following way:

























The team at matric.co.za feels very strongly about the matric certificate being the first stepping stone on your road to success. Everybody wants to live a happy and fulfilling life. Since you have to work for at least 35 years of your life, you are going to spend a lot of time at work. You might as well make your working environment as pleasant as possible for you. With your matric certificate, a world of possibilities will open up for you, as you will be able to choose a career that interests you and study towards obtaining a higher qualification in that field you have chosen.

Once you have obtained your matric certificate, you are spoiled for choice in terms of registering at colleges, technikons or universities and enrolling for the courses of your choice. Of these, universities have the most stringent requirements for courses, followed by technikons and colleges.  

• Universities

Universities are the institutes of learning in South Africa that have the highest entry requirements. Most university courses run for at least 3 years and require the student to obtain at least a C (60%) in the focus area of the course for which the student enrols. For example, if you want to study to be an engineer, you would need to pass matric physical science and mathematics with at least C aggregates. University studies are the most expensive in South Africa, and most universities expect the student to attend classes. The University of South Africa (UNISA) is one of very few distance learning universities in South Africa.

• Technikons

Technikons are more experience-orientated institutes of learning. They offer courses that run 2-3 years for which students will graduate with National Diplomas. Most technikon courses can be specialised in, leading to a B.Tech degree. Technikons focus on classroom education, as their main goal is to prepare students to find work immediately after finishing their studies. To do this, technikons require their students to do practical work. In this way, students gain experience whilst studying, enabling them to easily find jobs because they have both practical and theoretical knowledge.

• Colleges

Colleges are the institutes of learning in South Africa that have the least stringent entrance requirements. South Africa has a number of colleges, and they offer courses across the full range of careers, from accounting to interior decorating and sport and fitness training. For colleges, you can apply for any course with a matric certificate. Courses vary in length from short courses (3-6 months) to certificate and diploma courses that run for up to 2 years. An advantage of enrolling at a college is that it is cheaper than a university or technikon. Another advantage is that some college specialise in a specific field. A final advantage is that South Africa has a number of distance learning colleges where you can enrol without having to attend a single class. You can study at your own pace when it suits you, all from the comfort of your own home.