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Simplifying your registration journey

13 December 2024 | Story Edzani Nephalela | Photo Supplied

Student Registration 2025 — We welcome you to the University of the Free State! The 2025 academic year is fast approaching, and we can’t wait to see new and returning students on campus. Remember: Online registration opens on 7 January 2025; early registration is key to securing your place!

The University of the Free State (UFS) is excited to welcome new and returning students for the 2025 academic year. To ensure a smooth transition into university life, it is essential for all prospective and current students to familiarise themselves with the registration process.

To avoid delays, all students are advised to complete their registration as early as possible, as some programmes may have specific deadlines that differ from the general dates mentioned.

Registration methods

The UFS strongly encourages all students to use the online registration platform for a quick and easy process. This method is available for both new and returning students; please visit the official registration website for steps to register online.

However, a face-to-face, on-campus option is available to students who need additional support. Click on your relevant faculty below to learn more about the dates and on-campus venues.

Click to view document Faculty of Theology and Religion

Click to view document Faculty of The Humanities

Click to view document Faculty of Health Sciences

Click to view document Faculty of Education

Click to view document Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences

Click to view document Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences

Click to view document Faculty of Law

Key dates to keep in mind

	First semester	Second Semester
Online Registration	7 January - 7 February 2025	21 - 25 July 2025
Curriculum advice and registration for first-year students	27 January - 7 February 2025	21 - 25 July 2025
Curriculum advice and registration for senior students	20 January – 7 February 2025	21 - 25 July 2025
Curriculum advice and registration for Postgraduate students	20 January – 7 February 2025 Honours and PGDip (unless communicated otherwise by your faculty)	21 - 25 July 2025 Honours and PGDip (unless communicated otherwise by your faculty)
Classes start on	10 February 2025	21 July 2025
The last date to add or change module	14 February 2025	25 July 2025
The last date to cancel modules with full credit	31 March 2025	15 August 2025
Returning master’s and doctoral students can register during the official registration period.	20 January – 31 March 2025 for the first semester or a year programme, NOT during the month they initially registered	21 - 25 July 2025

Do you need further assistance? We’ve got you covered!

Should you require further guidance or have enquiries regarding the registration process, multiple avenues for support are available:

Institutional Call Centre: Call +27 51 401 9111 or WhatsApp +27 87 240 6370
Email support: Reach out to studentadmin@ufs.ac.za

The UFS experience is about more than just academic achievement; it’s about becoming part of something larger than yourself.

From exciting student activities to cutting-edge research, you’ll be surrounded by opportunities that challenge, support, and inspire you to take bold steps in your personal and professional growth. Welcome to a place where you don’t just learn – you thrive, evolve, and make lasting connections that will shape your future.

News Archive

UFS teams up with Department of Agriculture and donates latest farming technology to Oppermans

2009-03-09

Attending the recent launch of the latest technology that measures the salinity of soil – the EM38 system – during an information day held in Jacobsdal were, from the left, back: Mr Robert Dlomo, a farmer from Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal, Prof. Leon van Rensburg, Department of Soil, Crop and Climate Sciences at the UFS, Mr Sugar Ramakarane, head of the Department of Agriculture in the Free State, Dr Motseki Hlatshwayo, national Department of Agriculture, and Prof. Herman van Schalkwyk, Dean of the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the UFS; front: Mr Robert Smith and Mr Fagan Scheepers from Oppermansgronde, who will be working with the EM38 system in the area.
Photo: Landbouweekblad

UFS teams up with Department of Agriculture and donates latest farming technology to Oppermans

Emerging and commercial farmers of the Oppermans Community in the Northern Cape will now be able to monitor the salinity levels on their farms effectively for the first time.

This is as a result of a donation of the latest technology that measures the salinity of soil – the EM38 system – which the University of the Free State (UFS) is donating to the community.

The unique project was launched by the Department of Soil, Crop and Climate Sciences at the UFS and the Department of Agriculture in the Free State during an information day held at Jacobsdal recently.

The day was attended by members of the Oppermans Community and representatives of the UFS as well as the Department of Agriculture. Mr Sugar Ramakarane, Head of the Department of Agriculture in the Free State, did the welcoming and several academics from the UFS held discussions about various topics related to the salinity levels in soil.

Since the establishment of the Oppermans Community emerging farmers are now for the first time able to accurately monitor the salinity levels on their farms as well as that of irrigation schemes of commercial farms in the area.

“In a region such as the Northern Cape it is very important that the salinity level of soil is monitored properly. As water is administered to crops, salts accumulate in the soil because the roots leave most of the salts in the soil when it transpires. When the salinity of soil increases, the osmotic potential thereof can also increase, which can seriously damage the water intake of crops and can create loss in yield and income,” said Prof. Leon van Rensburg from the Department of Soil, Crop and Climate Sciences at the UFS and leader of the Oppermans Project.

To assist the farming community of Oppermans to apply precision farming and to measure the salinity level of soil more accurately the latest technology that measures salinity in soil – the EM38 – will be donated to the community. Although the system is used throughout the world, the UFS is the only tertiary institution in the country that owns the latest version of this system.

“We are also training two persons from the Oppermans Community as technicians that will monitor the use of the system. The advantage of the donation of the system for the university is that we can gather data that can be used for research purposes by our Master’s and Doctoral students. We also want to see if water-table heights can be measured with this system,” said Prof. Van Rensburg.

According to him the system has several advantages for the community’s emerging farmers. “For the first time the salinity level of soil can now be measured accurately, salt maps can be drawn up, we can advise farmers about the corrections that need to be made and salinity management plans can be compiled,” he said.

The system is very accurate as it takes measurements every 200 mm while it is pulled by a four-wheel motorbike. The readings provide the distribution of salts up to a soil depth of 1 500 mm. “In the past the measuring of salinity levels was time-consuming and the cost thereof was R90 for one sample. The new system is more cost-effective,” stated Prof. Van Rensburg.

The instruments will be handed over to the African Spirit Group of the Oppermans Community, who will then become the owners. The service to farmers will then be managed by an operational group consisting of people from the Oppermans Community, a postgraduate student who can compile salinity maps and Prof. Van Rensburg, who will act as project leader and advisor.

The system will also be made available to farmers at the Riet River and Vaalharts Schemes.

Media Release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Assistant Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@ufs.ac.za
9 March 2009

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