The two-sitting rule

The two-sitting rule: one of the most hotly-debated topics among homeschoolers!

The two-sitting rule applies to students who wish to use AS-Level subjects to obtain their university exemption for studying at South African universities. In this article I explore the two-sitting rule and its implications for planning a course of study using the British International IG and AS-Level courses. (British International qualifications are offered in South Africa by Cambridge International Education and Pearson Edexcel.)

The options for obtaining an exemption certificate

Students who take the British International IG and AS/A-Level courses and want to study at a South African university must apply to Universities South Africa (USAf) for an exemption certificate. This exemption certificate certifies that a student has met the minimum requirements set by law to be admitted to a university degree programme. In other words, a student will not be admitted to study at a South African university without this certificate.

There are three options open to private candidates (such as homeschoolers) to obtain the exemption certificate. I have discussed these options in more detail in another article, but it will be helpful to state the three options here again.

• Option 1: two A-Level subjects plus three IG subjects
• Option 2: three A-Level subjects plus one IG subject
• Option 3: four AS-Level subjects plus one IG subject

The two-sitting rule applies to Option 3 (four AS-subjects plus one IG subject) where the student is presenting AS-Level subjects towards the exemption.

When does the two-sitting rule apply?

It is important to realize that the two-sitting rule is a rule of USAf and not the two British International examination boards.

The two-sitting rule applies to students presenting at least four AS subjects and 1 IG subject towards the university exemption certificate (i.e. Option 3 above).

The two-sitting rule does not apply to students who present at least two or three A-Level subjects (i.e. Options 1 and 2 above). However, please see my notes below on writing A-Levels.

The two-sitting rule states that students presenting at least four AS subjects and one IG subject for university exemption may not write their exams over more than two exam sittings.

So, what is meant by an exam sitting?

What is an exam sitting?

USAf defines a sitting as the exams written within a twelve-month period. This means that exams written in May/June exam session and October/November exam session of the same calendar year are regarded by USAf as one sitting.

USAf will also consider exams written in October/November of one year (e.g. 2023) and May/June of the following year (e.g. 2024) as one sitting as long as there is at least one subject that is not offered in one of the exam sessions. For example, Afrikaans is only offered in the October/November exam session and not in the May/June exam session. A student may elect to write some of his subjects with Afrikaans in the October/November exam session and the other subjects in the following May/June exam session as long as these exams are within a twelve-month period of one another.

A student writing in May/June and October/November of one year may not count the following May/June as part of the same exam sitting as this will be regarded as an eighteen month period and therefore count as two exam sittings.

How can the two-sitting rule be applied?

Exam planning: two sittings, how many sessions?

The ideal application of the two sitting rule is that a student should write their six or more IG subjects in one exam session and then take four or five of these subjects to AS-Level, writing the AS exams in another exam session. This means that the student uses two exam sittings but also only two exam sessions. This will also allow students to have IG results to submit with their university application as Grade 11 marks, giving the university an idea of the student's capability.

The USAf definition of an exam sitting does allow a student to split their subjects into two groups and write in both the May/June and Oct/November exam sessions of one calendar year. Many parents opt for this approach, thinking that it will reduce the pressure on the child. However, it has been our experience that this approach can actually increase the pressure on the child. The child has to maintain the work load of the non-exam subjects while preparing and writing the exams. This can be very stressful and very few students are able to maintain the workload of the non-exam subjects while writing exams in other subjects. The consequence is that the student falls behind in the non-exam subjects and experiences a lot of pressure after the exams to catch up the work. It is often the case that important concepts are covered in these non-exam subjects during the exam session, and these students miss out on this work. While I agree the exam session can be hectic, especially during the week when a lot of the science subjects and maths are examined almost one after the other so that the student is writing almost every day, there is actually less pressure on the student as he/she can just focus just on personal revision and writing the exams during the exam session. This is a matter of personal choice, but be aware of the implications of your choice.

It is important to plan the sittings carefully in case of illness where the student is not able to write the exam or if the marks are too low to be used for exemption purposes. It can sometime happen that because a student has to rewrite one subject either due to illness or low marks, he/she has to rewrite other subjects because the two-sitting rule has to be applied.

Other important considerations

Although the IG exams and AS exams do not have to be written in consecutive years for exemption purposes, some universities are requiring this. One useful way of meeting this requirement is to take eighteen months in preparation for the IG exams and write most of the IG subjects in the May/June exam session with IG Afrikaans in the immediately following October/November exam session (since Afrikaans is not offered in the May/June exam session). The student then takes eighteen months to prepare for the AS exams, writing them in the following October/November exam session. This gives enough time to prepare for both the IG and AS exams (eighteen months each) and the results are recorded for consecutive years. Such a plan meets the requirements of the universities and also of the two-sitting rule!

Note that the exemption certificate is not the same as a "matric" certificate. It does not collate the marks from the various exam sessions and reflect them on one certificate. The exemption certificate is simply a certificate issue by USAf to state that the candidate has met the minimum requirements set by law for admission to a South African university. The certificate(s) issued by the British examination boards (Cambridge International Education or Pearson Edexcel) will count as the school-leaving certificate(s).

Both British examination boards will issue students with certificates for each exam session that the student writes in. Except for the case where AS results are combined with A2 results in the staged approach to A-Levels, there is no organization or institution that merges these certificates into one certificate. The certificate issued at the end of an exam session will count as the child's school-leaving certificate. The rule of thumb, whether doing AS-Level or A-Level, is to collect as few of these certificates as possible. If you split the IG subjects over two exam sessions and then split the AS-Level subjects over two exam sessions, you will get four separate certificates: two IG certificates and two AS-Level certficates. A student presenting only two certificates (one IG and one AS-Level certificate) may find it easier to be accepted into a university degree programme than a student presenting four certificates. The university may be more confident that a student with only two certificates (rather than four) will be able to complete the degree programme in the prescribed time period.

A-Level students

A-Level is equivalent to a Grade 13 in South Africa. It is higher than Grade 12 but not at the level of first year university. AS-Level, which is considered to equivalent to a South African Grade 12, is the first half of A-Level. The second half of A-Levels is called A2.

There are two routes to A-Level. The one route is to take all the A-Level exams in one exam session - either in the May/June exam session or in the October/November exam session. The other option is to take a staged approach. In this approach, the students write the AS-Level exams in one exam session and then write the A2 exams in another exam session that is within thirteen months of writing the AS exams. 

Although the two-sitting rule does not apply to students who choose to present at least two or three A-Level subjects, presenting too many certificates of exams spread over many exam sessions may not impress the university. Remember, the university needs to have confidence that the students it admits will be able to complete their studies in the prescribed period of time. Bringing three separate A-Level certificates does not give the university that confidence.

For students wanting to use either Option 1 or 2 for university exemption, I would strongly recommend that students write six to seven IG subjects in one exam session; then take either two or three (or more) to AS-Level (including English) and then write at least two A2 subject exams within 13 months of the AS exams.

More information on the two-sitting rule can be found in the USAf brochure.