About The Application Coach

Naledi Sithole is the pen name of this site's editorial team. We use one name and one consistent voice so the site reads like it comes from one place, but there's no single person called Naledi, and we won't pretend otherwise.

Our guides are researched from published sources: NSFAS's own guides and announcements, the Department of Higher Education and Training, universities' and TVET colleges' published rules and closing dates, and bursary providers' published criteria, plus readers' real experiences when they share them with us. We link every source and give the date we checked it. When we use a scenario to show how something works, we say clearly that it's an example, not a real person.

What we cover

NSFAS applications, status and appeals, bursaries, university and TVET college applications, matric results and second chances, and student money.

How we approach it

• Deadlines first. Every guide starts with the date that matters and what to do before it.
• Official sources only. We link the NSFAS, institution or bursary page for every rule, so you can check it yourself.
• Always free, always safe. Applying for NSFAS is free and so is everything on this site. We will never ask for your password, OTP, ID number or documents, and we never apply on anyone's behalf.

How the site is paid for

The guides are free and always will be. We plan to show advertising, including ads served by Google, and in future some links may be affiliate links (for example to a laptop or stationery retailer) that pay us a commission if you buy, at no extra cost to you. When a page has one, it says so. We never charge for application help, and no advertiser decides what our guides say.

Corrections

Rules, prices and dates change, and we make mistakes. If you spot something wrong or out of date, please tell us and we'll fix it and note the change.