Processing of NRF Honours Applications 2026

A) Summary of the Process

• The NRF Connect system closed on 21 November 2025 for students to submit applications for the Honours scholarship.
• The universities (NRF Designated Authorities) screen and score all applications in accordance with the NRF screening checklist. This implies that all applications received must be processed before a university can submit recommendations to the NRF. 
• The cut-off date for DAs to submit eligible applications to the NRF is 27 February 2026

• The NRF determines final funding allocations based on the recommendation lists submitted by institutions. Once these decisions are finalised, a list of successful students will be sent to the institution, and followed by the official award letters issued directly to the successful students.
• Successful students are expected to take up the scholarships within two (2) months from the date of issue of the letter of award.

B) Submission of Final Marks

Applicants who didn’t have their final-year marks at the time of application must send the examination results to the NRF DA at their proposed university for capturing.

C) Change of University

NRF applicants who receive a successful outcome and want to change their university must follow the steps below: 

D) Queries

Honours applicants should direct any queries about their applications and outcomes to their universities’ postgrad/research offices where NRF Designated Authorities (DAs) are stationed to assist.

E) Application Statuses on NRF Connect

As applications move through the process, applicants from the same university will see different statuses at different times. Due to application volumes, it can sometimes take a while for an individual applicant’s status to update on NRF Connect. What matters during this time is the status of the entire university’s applications. (See Heading F)

F) Updates on University Statuses

The NRF will post regular announcements about the progress (statuses) of the universities on Facebook and Twitter whenever updates become available. The NRF will thus not respond to queries from individual applicants about the progress of a specific university’s applications.

Please note that a university’s status will only change once all applications have been received from that particular university.

Please see the table (communique) below for the latest update.