U-App the 1st in SA to offer career assessments and feedback strictly online

While free tertiary education under the revised National Student Financial Aid Scheme’s (NFSAS) combined household income threshold of R350 000 will be phased in over the next three years, it currently only applies to qualifying first-year students in 2018. “For those who don’t qualify, the cost of tertiary education still remains high, and for several students, incorrectly choosing a qualification that isn’t suitable for you is not even an option,” says Rumbidzai Zawu, Co-founder and Chief Operations Officer at U-APP. With this in mind, the U-APP team made up of trained professionals and technologists has come up with a software designed to determine the university course that is just right for you to enrol for.

“Many students take up any educational programme available to them without knowing the career path involved in the courses they pursue,” says Zawu. “We help you choose the right qualification that is suitable for you. All you have to do is complete the registration process by clicking on the registration button, and we will contact you,” says Zawu.

What problem does it solve?

U-App solves three main problems. Firstly, it helps prospective students find up-to-date bursary information within South Africa. Additionally, the U-App team has partnered with higher tertiary institutions in SA and is able to submit an individual’s details to these institutions offering a qualification of their choice within their price range and preferred province, therefore reducing the burden of doing this alone.

Users from Grades 8 to 9 are able to take part in a career assessment that assists with subject choices for their Grade 10 transition. Users from Grades 10 to12, and even tertiary students, are also able to take part in a career assessment that helps them make more informed decisions about the right career path to follow for tertiary qualification choices. “University graduates, corporate recruiters & learnership programmes, are also able to utilise our junior recruitment & selection assessments in order to find ‘the right fit’ for their company,” says Zawu.

U-App was designed to be a ‘one-stop-shop’ for the young person who is battling with academic and career choices. “The idea is to make sure that young people know that they do not have to source all the solutions alone, or even make decisions hastily. That it is ok to get help and take the right steps towards their future, and U-App is that help they may well need. After all, all these are some of the most important decisions they have to make as these decisions could potentially determine the rest of their lives,” says Zawu.

Who should visit the U-APP website?

Anyone looking to assess their career choices and options, anyone looking to make informed academic decisions especially in high school, and for corporates – anyone looking to make their corporate recruitment process more efficient should make use of the website app.

What makes U-App different is its approach. “When a user requests for assistance with tertiary placement for, say, a Bcom Law Degree we find out what that user’s budget is, what province they prefer to study in, and any other relevant questions that help us narrow down the user’s needs. Once that’s established, we send the user’s details to the relevant shortlist hence reducing admin time for both the institution contacting the user, and the user,” says Zawu.

U-App also uses a different assessment method. U-App is the 1^st in South Africa to offer career assessments and feedback purely online whilst still adhering to the regulations around the entire assessment framework in South Africa.  “Our users receive career guidance feedback in the comfort of their own surroundings at their desired timeslot from a registered Psychometrist via, Skype or Whatsapp video call. This drastically cuts the cost of one having to travel to and from the career assessment centres as traditionally done and essentially user’s pay up to 3 times less on U-App’s platform than the traditional methods in SA of taking assessments,” adds Zawu.

It is often said that an investment in knowledge pays the best interest. Receiving a good basic education is a human right but many are unable to afford proper schooling. Recent figures released by Stats SA indicate that South African households will have to make more room in their budgets to pay for rising tuition fees. Through the use of U-App; prospective tertiary students can save costs, while making a more informed decision on what to study.

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