SAQA All qualifications and part qualifications registered on the National Qualifications Framework are public property. Thus the only payment that can be made for them is for service and reproduction. It is illegal to sell this material for profit. If the material is reproduced or quoted, the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) should be acknowledged as the source.
SOUTH AFRICAN QUALIFICATIONS AUTHORITY 
REGISTERED QUALIFICATION: 

Bachelor of Arts Honours 
SAQA QUAL ID QUALIFICATION TITLE
114802  Bachelor of Arts Honours 
ORIGINATOR
Walter Sisulu University 
PRIMARY OR DELEGATED QUALITY ASSURANCE FUNCTIONARY NQF SUB-FRAMEWORK
CHE - Council on Higher Education  HEQSF - Higher Education Qualifications Sub-framework 
QUALIFICATION TYPE FIELD SUBFIELD
Honours Degree  Field 07 - Human and Social Studies  General Social Science 
ABET BAND MINIMUM CREDITS PRE-2009 NQF LEVEL NQF LEVEL QUAL CLASS
Undefined  120  Not Applicable  NQF Level 08  Regular-Provider-ELOAC 
REGISTRATION STATUS SAQA DECISION NUMBER REGISTRATION START DATE REGISTRATION END DATE
Reregistered  EXCO 0821/24  2021-07-01  2027-06-30 
LAST DATE FOR ENROLMENT LAST DATE FOR ACHIEVEMENT
2028-06-30   2031-06-30  

In all of the tables in this document, both the pre-2009 NQF Level and the NQF Level is shown. In the text (purpose statements, qualification rules, etc), any references to NQF Levels are to the pre-2009 levels unless specifically stated otherwise.  

This qualification does not replace any other qualification and is not replaced by any other qualification. 

PURPOSE AND RATIONALE OF THE QUALIFICATION 
Purpose:
The purpose of the qualification is to bridge an undergraduate general, Postgraduate knowledge and skills training for the benefit of learners and society. The qualification intends to provide in-depth theoretical knowledge and lifelong learning. This qualification will prepare learners for the Master's qualification.

Rationale:
The qualification seeks to provide learners with an opportunity for in-depth theoretical knowledge and practical skills in their field of specialisation. The qualification serves as a response to local, provincial, national and international needs. It also provides society with intellectual and independent leaders. 

LEARNING ASSUMED TO BE IN PLACE AND RECOGNITION OF PRIOR LEARNING 
Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL):
Prospective learners who claim to have attained relevant prior learning enough for access to the qualification may apply for Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) as per the institutional RPL policy. Learners who need to be credited for RPL for a particular module or modules should apply in writing. The learner should clearly state the title(s) of the module or modules the prospective learner wants to be credited for as well as the basis on which they believe the accreditation should be granted. The principles of RPL will be upheld and implemented in a flexible and discerning manner. The principle of flexible and open access will, however, be offset against the provision that this is not to be to the detriment of the potential learner and that his/her chances to succeed must be reasonable.

Entry Requirements:
The minimum entry requirement for this qualification is:
  • Cognate Bachelor, NQF Level 7. 
    		•

    RECOGNISE PREVIOUS LEARNING? 
    Y 

    QUALIFICATION RULES 
    This qualification consists of the following compulsory and elective modules at NQF Level 8 totalling 120 (Depending on discipline or nature of specialisation, learners register for at least 4 elective modules and at least 1 compulsory module (in particular, the mini-dissertation or research paper).

    Compulsory Modules at Level 8, 54 (Choose One Module):
  • Dissertation, 0 Credit.
  • Dissertation, 30 Credits.
  • Research Paper, 30 Credits.
  • Research Methodology, 16 Credits.
  • Research Paper, 30 Credits.
  • Research Project, 32 Credits.
  • Research Paper, 30 Credits.
  • Psycho Criminology, 18 Credits.
  • Mini-Dissertation, 30, Credits.
  • Moral Decision Making, 18 Credits.
  • Mini Dissertation, 40 Credits.
  • Research Methodology, (English) 16 Credits.
  • Research Paper, (English) 40 Credits.

    Elective Modules Level 8, a total of 66 Credits (choose 4 modules):
  • Industrial Relations, 24 Credits.
  • Political Sociology, 18 Credits.
  • Bibliographic Description, 16 Credits.
  • Consumer and Marketing Psychology, 16 Credits.
  • Sustainable Development, 18 Credits.
  • Management of a Particular Type of Informal Service, 16 Credits.
  • Research Methodology Paper 2, 16 Credits.
  • Juvenile Delinquency, 18 Credits.
  • Counselling Psychology, 24 Credits.
  • Rural Sociology, 18 Credits.
  • Gender Theories Paper 1, 16 Credits.
  • Psychotherapy, 24, Credits.
  • Sociology of Education, 16 Credits.
  • Organisational Psychology, 16 Credits.
  • Honours Project, 32 Credits.
  • Theories of Crime Paper 2, 18 Credits.
  • Political Economy of Africa, 18 Credits.
  • Political Theory, 18 Credits.
  • Sociology of Health, Illness and Medicine, 18 Credits.
  • Public Policy Analysis, 18 Credits.
  • Cross-cultural approaches to Knowledge, 16 Credits.
  • Research Methodology, 18 Credits.
  • Career Psychology, 16 Credits.
  • Sociology of the Family and Gender Issues, 18 Credits.
  • Sociology of Work and Labour Relation Studies, 18 Credits.
  • Education for Information Use, 16 Credits.
  • Management Information System (MIS), 16 Credits.
  • Neuropsychology and Legal Issues, 16 Credits.
  • Personality Psychology, 16 Credits.
  • Kinship and Marriage, 18 Credits.
  • Modern Anthropological Thought, 8 Credits.
  • Anthropological Research Methods, 18 Credits.
  • Selected Topics: E/Africa, W/Africa, C/Africa, 18 Credits.
  • Impact of City and Rise of Informal settlement, 18 Credits.
  • Crime Prevention, 18, Credits.
  • Growing Up in South Africa Traditional Society, 18 Credits.
  • Economic/Development Anthropology, 18 Credits.
  • Trends in Medical Anthropology, 18 Credits.
  • Information Technology, 16 Credits.
  • Sociology of Deviance, 18 Credits.
  • Feminist Ethics Paper 4, 16 Credits.
  • Sociology of Religion, 18 Credits.
  • Dissertation Paper 3, 16 Credits.
  • Psychopathology, 24 Credits.
  • Aesthetics and Literature in Africa, 18 Credits.
  • Research Methods and Statistics, 16 Credits.
  • Information Resources for Children, 16 Credits.
  • Developmental Psychology, 16 Credits.
  • Gender and Rural Development Paper 9, 16 Credits.
  • Psychological Assessment, 16 Credits.
  • Gender and Health Paper 8, 16 Credits.
  • Victimology, 18 Credits.
  • Gender and Psychology, 16 Credits.
  • Health Psychology, 16 Credits.
  • Information Storage and Retrieval, 16 Credits.
  • Gender and Politics, 16 Credits.
  • Environment and Sustainable Dev Studies, 18 Credits.
  • Gender Studies, 16 Credits.
  • Library Practical, 24 Credits.
  • Penology, 18, Credits.
  • Population and Sustainable Rural Development, 18 Credits.
  • International Relations Theory, 18 Credits.
  • Comparative Foreign Policy, 18 Credits.
  • The Sociology of Media, 18 Credits.
  • The Sociology of Africa, 18 Credits.
  • Community Psychology, 16, Credits.
  • Gender and Religion, 16 Credits.
  • Rural/Urban Social Development, 16 Credits.
  • Business Ethics, 18, Credits.
  • Development Ethics, 18 Credits.
  • Biomedical Ethics, 18 Credits.
  • Gender, Agriculture and Environment, 16 Credits.
  • Contemporary and Post-Modern Social Theories, 16 Credits.
  • Ethics in Education, 18 Credits.
  • Public Administration Ethics, 18 Credits.
  • Medical and Information Technology Ethics, 18 Credits.
  • Gender and Law Paper 10, 16 Credits.
  • Feminist Ethics, 18 Credits.
  • Social Research Methods for Social Sciences, 16 Credits.
  • Social Statistics for Social Sciences, 16 Credits.
  • Police Ethics, 18 Credits.
  • Social Psychology, 8 Credits.
  • Criminalistics, 16, Credits.
  • Psychological Anthropology, 16 Credits.
  • International Law, 18 Credits.
  • Social Justice, 18, Credits.
  • Southern African Politics, 18 Credits.
  • Sociology of Development, 18 Credits.
  • Human Resources Management, 24 Credits.
  • Environmental Ethics, 18 Credits.
  • International Relations of Africa, 18 Credits.
  • Functional Policing, 16 Credits.
  • Police Administration and Organisation, 16 Credits.
  • International Political Economy, 18 Credits.
  • Race thinking and thinking about Race, 18 Credits.
  • Fundamental of Police Science, 16 Credits.
  • Research Methodology, 16 Credits.
  • African Autobiographies, 16 Credits
  • African American and Caribbean Literature: A Survey, 16 Credits.
  • General Linguistics, 16 Credits.
  • Afrikaans Syntax, 16 Credits.
  • Afrikaans Phonology and Morphology, 16 Credits.
  • Afrikaans Semantics, 16 Credits.
  • Afrikaans Dialectology, 16 Credits.
  • Diachronic Linguistics, 16 Credits.
  • Applied Linguistics, 16 Credits.
  • Aesthetics and Literature in Africa, 16 Credits.
  • Contemporary Women's Fiction, 16 Credits.
  • The English Language in Africa, 16 Credits.
  • English Semantics, 16 Credits.
  • Literary Theory, 16 Credits.
  • ESL Methodology (no credits indicated).
  • Historiography, Historical Method and Theory, 16 Credits.
  • Approaches to and Perspectives on Community, 16 Credits.
  • Deconstructing SA's Past: Trends and Debates, 16 Credits.
  • History and Memory in South Africa, 16 Credits.
  • History and Public Policy, 16 Credits.
  • Historical Perspectives on Systemic Insecurity, 16 Credits.
  • Independent Study, 16 Credits.
  • Impact of City and rise of informal settlement, 16 Credits.
  • Language Families of Africa, 16 Credits.
  • Modern African Poetry (no credits indicated).
  • Modern Drama and Poetry, 16 Credits.
  • Modern Prose, 16 Credits.
  • Modern South African Literature, 16 Credits.
  • Morphology Syntax and Semantics, 16 Credits.
  • Organisational Psychology, 16 Credits.
  • Phonetics and Phonology, 16 Credits.
  • Traditional Literature, 16 Credits. 
    		•

    EXIT LEVEL OUTCOMES 
    1. Ability to understand the development of knowledge, concepts and principles applicable to a specialised field of social sciences or humanities.
    2. Assess and evaluate literature related to the chosen field of study.
    3. Identify, analyse, formulate, using critical and creative thinking of solving problems related to individuals, groups, families, people with special needs within communities as well as a workplace.
    4. Sensitivity to the multi-cultural and multi-lingual nature of South African society.
    5. Communicate effectively using visual, mathematical and language skills in the modes of the oral and written presentation.
    6. Take responsibility for his or her work, decision-making and use of resources, and full accountability for the decisions and actions of others where appropriate. 

    ASSOCIATED ASSESSMENT CRITERIA 
    The following Associated Assessment Criteria apply across all Exit Level Outcomes:
  • Written and oral assessments are designed to cumulatively elicit learners' knowledge about history and knowledge of concepts in a specialised field of social sciences or humanities.
  • As part of the required accessing, processing and managing information at this level, learners conduct annotated bibliography in order to select relevant material, read critically, discern trends over historical time, evaluate methods and theories and communicate all these coherently in the form of an acceptable literature review.
  • As part of the requirement to demonstrate the ability to take full responsibility for his or her work, decision-making and use of resources, the learner should, through executing proper research protocol, navigate ethical issues in research and various contexts in communities.
  • In demonstrating problem-solving skills, learner assignments will include theoretical and practical undertakings that elicit understanding and management of human diversity.
  • Learners make presentations at various fora, using available technologies as initial induction step to reporting research findings.
  • Through group work and individual projects, the learner will be engaged in key decision making at the individual and group level.

    Integrated Assessment:
    The assessment of the learners' performance is both summative and formative for the qualification. Continuous evaluation of course-work contributes toward the final mark. Continuous evaluation of course work for the qualifications is based on the following:
  • Written individual and group assignments.
  • Individual and group presentation of seminar papers.
  • Peer evaluation and self-evaluation of performance.
  • Participation in class discussion and attendance.
  • Written examination and a mini-dissertation form part of the final assessment for the qualification. 
    		•

    INTERNATIONAL COMPARABILITY 
    The institution's qualification correlates well with similar qualifications offered at the University of Zimbabwe (Africa), University of Birmingham (Europe) and the University of Delhi (Asia). This is so mainly about the expected learning outcomes, which are: To develop essential skills and knowledge in theory and research in the humanities and social sciences. All 3 include a research component whose completion, together with knowledge garnered from the course work, aims to produce graduates that can think, flexibly and critically - weighing evidence and arguments and making rational choices.

    University of Zimbabwe:
    The University of Zimbabwe offers access in two ways - early specialisation or 3-year Honours dependent on academic excellence (learners are invited to study towards an Honours on the strength of their performance), and a 4-year "Special Honours" dependent on completion of first Degree with at least 65% average in a relevant subject. The discipline specified in the qualification, e.g. BA Honours in English.

    University of Birmingham:
    The university offers 3-year joint Honours, e.g. French Studies and Mathematics. The combinations include what can be classified as science subjects, e.g. Mathematics which nonetheless, can be taken in combination with traditional arts subjects https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/joint.aspx).

    University of Delhi:
    This university has fewer qualifications and combinations to choose from compared to the qualification offered by the institution.
    Conclusion: The competencies addressed in these institutions are similar to the ones in this qualification, although admission requirements and subject combinations may differ. These differences are related to the particular needs of the other two countries and their labour markets. Overall the qualification at this institution compares favourably with the same or similar qualifications in the other three institutions. 

    ARTICULATION OPTIONS 
    This qualification allows possibilities for both vertical and horizontal articulation.

    Horizontal Articulation:
  • Cognate Bachelor Honours, Level 8.

    Vertical Articulation:
  • Master of Arts, Level 9. 
    		•

    MODERATION OPTIONS 
    N/A 

    CRITERIA FOR THE REGISTRATION OF ASSESSORS 
    N/A 

    NOTES 
    N/A 

    LEARNING PROGRAMMES RECORDED AGAINST THIS QUALIFICATION: 
     
    NONE 


    PROVIDERS CURRENTLY ACCREDITED TO OFFER THIS QUALIFICATION: 
    This information shows the current accreditations (i.e. those not past their accreditation end dates), and is the most complete record available to SAQA as of today. Some Primary or Delegated Quality Assurance Functionaries have a lag in their recording systems for provider accreditation, in turn leading to a lag in notifying SAQA of all the providers that they have accredited to offer qualifications and unit standards, as well as any extensions to accreditation end dates. The relevant Primary or Delegated Quality Assurance Functionary should be notified if a record appears to be missing from here.
     
    1. Walter Sisulu University 


    All qualifications and part qualifications registered on the National Qualifications Framework are public property. Thus the only payment that can be made for them is for service and reproduction. It is illegal to sell this material for profit. If the material is reproduced or quoted, the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) should be acknowledged as the source.