1. National Information Service for Higher Education (NiSHE)
    To provide information and guidance to prospective HE students, schools, parents and the public.

  2. Matriculation Board/Minimum Admissions Service
    To administer the MB regulations as required by law for the 2006 and 2007 Senior Certificate examinations, and entry into public HE in 2007 and 2008, and to set equivalence and regulate minimum admissions thresholds for both diploma and degree study in public and private HE for the 2008 examinations onwards, in close interaction with information, benchmarking and system flow functions.

  3. National Benchmark Tests Project
    To develop national tests in the broad domains of academic literacy/language proficiency, quantitative literacy/numeracy and mathematics in order to-
    1. benchmark entry level proficiencies of students across institutional types;
    2. assess the relationship between entry level proficiencies and school-level exit outcomes;
    3. provide a service to HEIs requiring additional information in the admission and placement of students; and
    4. Inform the nature of foundation courses/extended curriculum programmes and curriculum responsiveness.

  4. Monitoring of Systems Flow:Enrolment,throughput/retention and graduation rates
    5. The overall goal of this project is to ensure the consistent monitoring of patterns and trends in sector enrolment, throughput/retention and graduation in order to provide accurate information and analyses on system flow, efficiencies and strategic sector action that may be deemed necessary.
    Of specific and immediate concern is the high drop-out rate of students (estimated to be 50%) when the overall goal is to achieve greater efficiencies as well as alignment with the social and economic needs of SA society.