Wits exclusion appeal: how WRC-1 and WRC-2 work

If you have been excluded at Wits: a step-by-step guide

Last checked 11 October 2026, from the Wits 2025/2026 readmissions booklet. Deadlines and meeting dates change every year, so read the current booklet for your faculty.

Being excluded is hard, and it is not the end of the road. This guide walks through what happens, what to submit, and what comes after. You are not alone: the Wits SRC and the Counselling and Careers Development Unit (CCDU) can help you prepare.

What an exclusion means

If you did not meet the minimum requirements of study, your overall result is MRNM (or MRNL if you have reached N+2). You may not renew your registration for the same degree unless a Wits Readmissions Committee (WRC) gives you permission. The onus is on you to follow every date and format.

Step 1: get your results and check your code

• Look on self-service as soon as results are published. Do not rely on the email.
• If your code is MRNM, you apply to WRC-1. If it is MRNL, you go straight to WRC-2.
• If your code is MRNX or MEXL, you cannot appeal. Speak to your faculty office about other options.
• If you are waiting for a supplementary or deferred exam, many faculties have a different, later submission deadline for you. Check the dates in the booklet.

Step 2: write your WRC-1 appeal

Apply online on self-service (Self Service > Application for WRC) by 24:00 on your faculty's deadline. Late submissions are not considered for any reason. Emailed submissions are only accepted in exceptional, previously agreed circumstances.

What to include:

• All your reasons, in writing. The committee only considers what you give it.
• Evidence from independent sources: marks for essays and projects, test results, and a record of your academic progress during the year.
• The Wits health form, completed by your practitioner, if illness is part of your reasons. You do not have to share your diagnosis, but without the form no health reason is considered, and the form's authenticity is checked.
• Proof of funding, especially if you have reached N+2.
• Anything about accommodation, finances, family difficulties or emotional or psychological problems that affected your studies.
• Keep a copy. The university will not give you one later.

Only give true information. A false submission can lead to refusal or cancellation of registration.

What WRC-1 looks at

Your attendance and participation, your use of academic support programmes, requests for deferred assessments, your health record (in the prescribed format), your record at other institutions, proof of funding, demand for places in your programme, and whether you are in your final year.

Step 3: the WRC-1 decision

WRC-1 can (1) let you renew your registration unconditionally, (2) let you renew on conditions, for example fewer courses, a change of degree, an academic support programme, proof of funding, or satisfactory progress by the end of the first term, or (3) refuse. If it refuses, you get a letter with the reasons by email within three working days of the meeting. Check your Wits email regularly.

Step 4: the WRC-2 hearing

If WRC-1 refuses, you may present your case to WRC-2. You get at least 24 hours' notice by email.

• You make a short oral presentation as well as your written appeal.
• You may bring a fellow student, who must be registered and not themselves at risk of exclusion. The student speaks or you speak, not both.
• The SRC may help you prepare your case, but you are encouraged to present it yourself.
• If you do not attend, your case is not heard and the WRC-1 decision stands. If something outside your control stopped you, the chair can allow a hearing before the process closes, and you will need evidence.
• WRC-2 also looks at your academic performance, the reasons for your results, the likelihood of success if you are readmitted, whether you are in your final year, and your funding.

WRC-2 can permit renewal unconditionally, permit it on conditions, or refuse.

After WRC-2

• Conditions: you receive a letter by email. Sign and keep to the conditions. Breaking them can mean exclusion without appeal.
• Final decision: no Vice-Chancellor or Deputy Vice-Chancellor can overrule WRC-2. The only exception is a procedural flaw, for example information you submitted was not given to the committee. Then you may appeal to the Senior DVC (Academic) through your Faculty Registrar, who can send it back to WRC-2 but cannot overturn it.
• N+2: if you have gone two years past the minimum time for your degree, WRC-2 can recommend your case to the VP and Deans Committee (VPC) only if there are exceptional, substantive and time-specific circumstances and your faculty supports it. You cannot approach the VPC yourself, no new documents are accepted, and its decision is final.

If you are not readmitted

• You can apply again for the same degree after at least one academic year, with a new application. You must be in good standing.
• You can also apply for a different degree after one year, or ask the Dean of the faculty you are applying to for special permission to change in the year of exclusion.
• You may be allowed to register as an occasional student for courses that count towards your degree.
• Health Sciences: excluded students apply to the Special Cases Committee to be reconsidered.
• Senate may in exceptional cases consider someone who exceeded N+2, if you can show you will succeed and finish.

Practical checklist

1. Check your code on self-service and diarise your faculty's deadline.
2. Get your health form to your practitioner early if you need it.
3. Collect marks, test results and any evidence of progress.
4. Write all your reasons clearly. Keep a copy.
5. Submit before 24:00 on the deadline.
6. Watch your Wits email daily. Prepare for a hearing and arrange a fellow student if you want one.
7. Talk to someone: your faculty office, the SRC, and CCDU support.

Source: Wits readmissions booklet 2025/2026 (PDF) · Official