2021 changes to the academic calendar, tuition

and assessment

Why did Unisa change the 2021 academic calendar?

• Unisa received a request from the Minister of Higher Education and Training to extend the registration
period to accommodate the delays in the completion of academic programmes at other tertiary
institutions as well as the late publication of Grade 12 results.

• In response, the Unisa Council resolved to extend the registration period for all students until 12
March 2021. Subsequent to this decision, the Minister requested a further extension until 26 March
2021. This was aligned with the release of NSFAS funding which affects the majority of Unisa
students.

• Due to the belated decision of the High Court, Unisa will accommodate a further group of new
students into selected qualifications and the registration deadline has thus been further extended to
31 March 2021.

• To protect the academic integrity of the institution and to minimise the adverse effect of a short
academic year on student success, the following significant changes to the 2021 academic calendar
for semester modules have been implemented (year modules have not been affected).

• The extended learning period is also intended to mitigate further Covid challenges that might arise to
try to ensure that the academic year is aligned with the calendar year.

Registrations
• During 2021, Unisa will have only one registration period, namely 5 January to 31 March 2021.
• Students must register for both semester 1 and semester 2 modules during this registration period.
o Students can therefore register for 10 semester modules, distributed over the two semester
periods.
o Students are limited to the registration of 5 modules per semester.
o Prerequisites have been amended to co-requisites for most modules, with certain exceptions
as determined by individual colleges.
• Fees for semester 1 (and year modules) registration are payable on
o 31 March and 31 August
• Fees for semester 2 registration is payable on
o 31 May and 31 August

Semesters
• Semester 1 will be extended to a 22 week learning period and assignment dates will be spread
over the period 1 April to 31 August 2021.
• Semester 2 will be extended in the same manner by allowing students to register early and start
with the tuition/assessment in April already.
• The two semesters will run concurrently and students can register for their full complement of
modules and will have a longer period for learning and engagement.
• The assignments and new due dates are published in TL001. The rest of the information in TL101
remains valid.
• Each module will still be registered for either semester 1 or semester 2. Therefore, although the
assignment questions and due dates will be the same for both semesters, the unique assignment
numbers are different for the two semesters.
• While semester 2 students are taught in the same module site as semester 1 students, they
remain registered for the semester 2 registration period and will submit their assignments and
examinations against the semester 2 period.

Module sites

• In most semester modules, the semester 2 students have been moved to the semester 1
teaching site. The new module site has been renamed to "ALL".
• Although semester 2 students are taught in the same module site as semester 1 students, they
remain registered for the semester 2 registration period and will submit their assignments and
examinations against the semester 2 period.
• Assignment submissions will go to the JRouter against the two registered periods and must be
marked in the separate semester portals.

Examination
• For 2021 Unisa will have only one main examination period for both semester 1 and semester 2
examinations.
• The 2021 examination will be over a longer period than usual and will be scheduled from 20
September to 26 November 2021 since students have to prepare and write more examinations
than usual.
• All examinations will be online and the approved examination type per module will be applied.
• A special supplementary examination will be conducted during June/July for qualifying students
(supplementary, aegrotat, FI concessions) emanating from the January/February 2021
examination period.

Final year students (Early Completion Programme)

• For final-year students that would have been in a position to complete their qualifications after
semester 1, Unisa will implement a special Early Completion Programme (ECP).
• Only students that need 5 semester modules or less, and have registered for all these modules in
the S1 period, will be identified for the ECP. Students registered for any practical or year modules
will be excluded.
• The identification of the potential ECP group will be done early in April after all registrations have
been processed, and placed for earlier tuition and assessment in special ECP sites in the
relevant modules (similar to a tutor site).
• Students will be informed of their placement in the ECP and will have the opportunity to opt-out
and revert back into the normal semester programme.
• The academic staff will load an adjusted assessment programme on these special ECP sites.
• ECP students will have to submit all required assignments on specific due dates and must earn
examination admission as per normal Unisa rules. The submission dates may be different from
the dates applicable to students that write their examinations at the end of the year.
• The final examination for these students will be during the special supplementary examinations
scheduled for June/July. All normal examination rules will apply.
• Students that have been identified for the ECP programme will be removed from the programme
when they either do not qualify for exam admission in any module or cancel any of the
outstanding modules.
• The ECP does not include an extra opportunity to apply and register for further Unisa
qualifications during 2021 semester 2. Completing ECP students will have to wait for the 2022
application period.