Mentors help South African pupils get ready for university, study finds
In Gauteng, postgraduate tutors helped learners from under-served schools build confidence and academic skills before they arrive.
Johannesburg — More than 345,000 South African pupils qualified for university in the 2025 school-leaving exams, 46% of those who passed and more than double the figure of a decade earlier. But qualifying is not the same as being ready, writes an education researcher in The Conversation.
University asks students to work independently, think critically about sources, build arguments and do research. Not everyone arrives equally prepared.
Learning university skills at school
The study looked at the AccessEd Scholars Programme, set up in 2017 with LEAP Schools, IkamvaYouth and the African School for Excellence. It works with pupils in under-served communities and uses postgraduate students as tutors and near-peer mentors. Pupils carry out their own research projects, write academically and debate ideas. (The author sits on AccessEd's board.)
The team studied four schools in Gauteng, analysing 100 pupil self-evaluations, tutor and teacher feedback, observed sessions and 50 assignments.
What they found
- Confidence grew. In 73 of 100 evaluations, pupils described confidence in their learning. One wrote that they used to be scared of asking questions, but now felt confident.
- Skills showed. 78% of grade 9 and 85% of grade 12 pupils showed proficiency in research and using sources in their final assignments.
- Mentors mattered.
The researchers suggest schools offer earlier exposure to research and analytical writing, and that universities partner with schools so postgraduate students can mentor pupils. Getting ready for university, they argue, should start well before the last day of school.
Source: The Conversation, 26 October 2026.
