CAPSIEBCambridge16 major SA universities
Discover what fits.
Know what you qualify for.
Never miss a deadline.
Oriva helps South African learners find careers that match their interests, work out which university courses their marks qualify for, and keep every application, NBT and residence deadline in one plan.
No card needed · R 49/month for the full command centre · cancel anytime
Applying to university here is a paperwork trap.
Not because the information is hidden — because it is scattered across a dozen portals, each with its own dates.
- Six universities, six different closing dates — and two of them close earlier for the course she actually wants.
- He says he is handling it. It is October.
- Nobody in the house is certain what an APS of 33 actually qualifies him for.
Miss one date and it costs a year.
Three steps, in the order they actually happen.
Most learners pick a course and work backwards from it. Oriva runs the other way round.
- 01
Discover
A 48-question interest assessment turns what your child enjoys into an interest profile, then into careers ranked by fit.
See how → - 02
Match
Enter their marks. Oriva calculates the APS and checks it against every course's requirements, subject by subject.
See how → - 03
Apply
Each course you add brings its closing date, NBT reminder, residence deadline and document checklist with it.
See how →
Start with the learner, not the degree.
Forty-eight questions about what your child actually enjoys doing. Oriva scores them across the six Holland/RIASEC interest dimensions and ranks 50 South African careers by how well each one fits — then shows the courses that lead there.
- A 48-question career interest assessment, based on the Holland/RIASEC framework
- An interest profile across all six dimensions, not a single label
- Careers ranked by fit, each linked to real courses at real universities
- Retake it whenever they change their mind — and they will
These are starting directions, not a verdict. Oriva is not a psychological assessment and does not pretend to be one — it is a structured way to open the conversation.
Your interest profile
Code ISR- Investigative88%
- Social79%
- Realistic71%
- Conventional54%
- Artistic41%
- Enterprising38%
Careers that fit
- Medical Doctor94% fit
- Physiotherapist89% fit
- Biomedical Scientist86% fit
Stop guessing whether you qualify.
Enter the marks. Oriva works out the APS on the standard 7-point scale, then tests it against all 80 courses — not just the total, but each course's individual subject requirements.
- APS from the best six subjects, excluding Life Orientation
- Every course checked on its APS and its subject levels
- Sorted into You qualify, Within reach and Stretch goals
- Short of a course? It says by how many points, and which subject to lift
80 courses across 16 major South African universities, each with its own APS and subject requirements.
Will you qualify?
Grade 12 · CAPS- Mathematics72%Level 6
- English HL74%Level 6
- Geography70%Level 6
- Physical Sciences68%Level 5
- Life Sciences65%Level 5
- Afrikaans FAL66%Level 5
- UJ · BScneeds APS 31You qualify
- UKZN · BSc Engineeringneeds APS 363 points short
Oriva uses the standard 7-point APS scale. UCT and Wits run their own composite scores, and the app says so where it applies.
One course added. Every date it drags with it.
Add a course and Oriva builds the rest: the closing date, a reminder to book and write the NBT two weeks ahead, the university's residence deadline, and a document checklist. Then it emails you when something falls inside the next week.
- Closing dates, NBT reminders and residence deadlines, created for you
- A document checklist and a status board for every application
- An email reminder when a deadline is within seven days
- Subscribe the whole timeline to Google or Apple Calendar
The NBT item is a reminder to book, not a live NBT calendar. Confirm sitting dates and fees on nbt.ac.za.
One course you added
3 dates created- Book & write NBT for Wits16 SepTwo weeks before the course closes
- Apply for residence at Wits16 SepSeparate application, limited places
- Wits · BEng — application closes30 SepHealth Sciences closed 30 June
Funding belongs in the same plan.
18 major South African bursaries, matched to your field of interest and your APS — NSFAS, Funza Lushaka, Thuthuka, Sasol, Allan Gray and more. Save one and its deadline joins the same timeline as the applications.
18 bursaries, not every bursary in South Africa. We would rather be exact about that.
See which ones you matchOne family. Up to 4 learners. One place to keep track.
On the Family plan each child gets their own assessment, their own marks, their own course matches and their own applications. You switch between them from the sidebar — or from settings on your phone — instead of juggling four spreadsheets.
The parent view answers the three questions you actually have: how many applications are on track, what is due next, and whether the NBTs are booked.
Viewing
- ThandiGrade 12Viewing
- SiphoGrade 11
- LeratoGrade 12
Switch child, and the assessment, marks, matches and applications all follow.
Start without signing up.
Two tools that are useful on their own — no account, no card.
Every closing date, on one page
Application windows for all 16 universities Oriva covers — 13 of them still open right now — with the date each was last verified shown alongside it.
Open the deadline toolA 12-question taste of the assessment
Two questions per interest dimension, scored exactly the same way as the full 48-question version, with career matches at the end.
Take the career quizWhat Oriva does, and what it does not.
Oriva organises and tracks. You submit each application on the university's own portal.
Nobody can apply on your behalf, and a product implying otherwise is selling something it cannot deliver. What Oriva can do is make sure that when you sit down to apply, you know what you qualify for, what is needed, and how long you have.
- 16
- major universities
- 80
- courses with APS and subject requirements
- 50
- careers in the catalogue
- 18
- bursaries matched to you
Built for South Africa
APS on the 7-point scale, NBT, NSFAS, residence applications — and priced in rands.
POPIA-conscious by default
Your data is visible only to your family. Learners under 18 need a guardian's consent before anything is stored.
Leave whenever you like
Cancel from the billing page, and delete your account and everything in it from settings.
Application dates are checked against each university's own published information. Every institution in Oriva has been verified since June 2026, and the deadline tool shows the date for each one.
Simple pricing, in rands.
Start free. Move up when the applications start, and stop whenever you want.
Essential
The full command center for one learner
- Everything in Free
- One learner
- Unlimited applications
- Unlimited bursary matching & tracking
- Deadline, NBT & residence reminders
- Document checklist & status board
- Parent oversight view
- Sync every deadline to your calendar
Family
For the whole family, plus AI guidance
- Everything in Essential
- Up to 4 learners — siblings welcome
- AI motivation-letter drafting
- AI course-match & assessment insights
- Priority deadline alerts
Free
Find your direction and get started
- Full career assessment — find your fit
- Full course matcher with your APS
- Track up to 2 applications
- Save up to 3 bursaries
Both paid plans are billed monthly through PayFast and cancel from your billing page. R 49/month covers one learner; R 149/month covers up to 4.
Questions parents actually ask
What is Oriva?
A university application command centre for South African families. It helps a learner find careers that match their interests, work out which courses their marks qualify for, and keep every application, deadline and document in one place.
Who is it for?
Grade 11 and 12 learners and their parents. Learners do the assessment and the applications; parents get an oversight view showing what is on track and what is due next.
Which universities do you cover?
16 of South Africa's major universities — UCT, Wits, Stellenbosch, UP, UJ, UKZN, UFS, Rhodes, NWU, UWC, NMU, UNISA, UL and the universities of technology (TUT, CPUT, DUT) — with 80 courses between them, across CAPS, IEB and Cambridge. That is not every institution in the country, and the free deadline tool shows when each one was last verified.
Does Oriva submit my applications?
No, and we would rather say so plainly. Oriva organises and tracks the process; you submit each application on the university's own portal. Anyone promising to apply on your behalf is describing something different from this.
Does it calculate my APS?
Yes. Enter your subject percentages and Oriva calculates your APS on the standard 7-point scale — best six subjects, excluding Life Orientation — then checks it against each course's APS and subject-level requirements. UCT and Wits run their own composite scores, and the app tells you where that applies.
Does it track NBT and residence deadlines?
When you add a course, Oriva creates its closing date, a reminder to book and write the NBT two weeks ahead, and the university's residence deadline. The NBT item is a reminder to book — Oriva does not hold a live NBT sitting calendar, so confirm dates and fees on nbt.ac.za.
Can I manage more than one child?
Yes, on the Family plan — up to 4 learners. Each has their own assessment, marks, course matches and applications, and you switch between them from the sidebar or your settings.
Is there a free plan?
Yes. Free includes the full career assessment and the full course matcher with your APS, and lets you track up to 2 applications and save 3 bursaries. No card is needed to start.
How do I cancel?
From your billing page, whenever you like. Both paid plans are monthly, and you keep access until the month you have paid for runs out.
Is my child's information private?
Your data is visible only to your family, enforced at the database level rather than by the app asking nicely. Learners under 18 need a guardian's consent before anything is stored, and you can delete your account and everything in it at any time from settings.
Does this replace a school counsellor?
No. A good counsellor knows your child; Oriva knows the deadlines, the APS arithmetic and the requirements for ${counts.courses} courses. It handles the admin so the conversations you do have can be about the decision rather than the paperwork.
Get this year's applications organised.
Find the direction, check what they qualify for, and put every deadline somewhere you can see it.
No card needed · cancel anytime