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How to become a Paramedic / Emergency Care Practitioner

Provides advanced pre-hospital emergency care and transports critically ill or injured patients.

Apply early

Selection programmes like this often close months before the standard application deadline, and marks alone don’t guarantee a place. See the Dates page for the exact closing dates.

What does a Paramedic / Emergency Care Practitioner actually do?

More about this career

Responds to medical emergencies in the field - road accidents, cardiac arrests, trauma - stabilising patients and transporting them to the right facility, often working night shifts and irregular hours with private or public emergency medical services, fire departments or the military. Registration with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) is compulsory.

Where this degree can take you

  • Ambulance Operations Manager
  • Fire & Rescue Officer
  • Flight Paramedic
  • Disaster Management Officer

This is our general description of the role and related jobs, not from an official source – it’s here to give you a fuller picture, not as a careers-counselling guarantee.

Not from an official source

Subjects that usually help

  • Mathematics
  • Physical Sciences
  • Life Sciences

This is our general guidance about which school subjects suit this career. It is not an admission requirement and not from an official source – the real requirements are on the degrees below.

Not from an official source

Where to check this yourself

What the programmes we’ve captured actually ask for

  • Mathematics – asked for by 3 of 4 programmes
  • Physical Sciences – asked for by 3 of 4 programmes
  • Life Sciences – asked for by 3 of 4 programmes
  • Mathematical Literacy – asked for by 1 of 4 programmes
  • Technical Mathematics – asked for by 1 of 4 programmes

Counted from the requirements below (an “or” alternative counts for each subject named). Each programme links to the page it came from.

Programmes that lead here

4 programmes at 4 universities. More are added as we verify them.

Cape Peninsula University of Technology

Diploma in Emergency Care

Health & Wellness Sciences

CPUT APS 28 points (method varies by programme)

  • Subject rating codes – A Diploma-endorsed NSC with APS 28+ and specific subject rating codes that CPUT shows only in an image on the course page.

Raw-confirmed 2026-10-04 against CPUT’s own prospectus course page. The subject table is an image so only the APS was read as text. Applications close 31 July 2026. CPUT calculates this programme’s APS using one of three methods, confirmed from page 3 of CPUT’s own 2027 Undergraduate Prospectus - see CPUT_APS for the arithmetic.

Source: View the official page (prospectus.cput.ac.za) (opens the official page) · 2027 intake

Durban University of Technology

Bachelor of Health Sciences in Emergency Medical Care

Health Sciences · 4 years

DUT APS 30 points

  • English: level 4 (50% or more)
  • Mathematics: level 4 (50% or more)
  • Life Sciences: level 4 (50% or more) OR Physical Sciences: level 4 (50% or more)
  • Two more subjects – Two further 20-credit subjects (not more than one language).
  • Medical and physical fitness – A medical fitness evaluation and a physical fitness evaluation are both required.

Raw-confirmed 2026-10-04 against the DUT 2027 Study Opportunities entry-requirements table. Read directly from DUT’s own career leaflet. The programme does not follow normal semesters - it starts in early January and includes night-shift clinical placements. Applications go through the CAO. Closes 15 June 2026 (earlier than DUT’s standard 30 September date).

Source: View the official page (dut.ac.za) (opens the official page) · 2027 intake

Nelson Mandela University

Selection programme

Bachelor of Emergency Medical Care (BEMC)

Health Sciences · 4 years

NMU Applicant Score (AS) 370 out of 600

  • Mathematics: 50% OR Mathematical Literacy: 65% OR Technical Mathematics: 65%
  • Physical Sciences: 50%
  • Life Sciences: 60%
  • Interview and fitness – Departmental selection includes an interview, a medical fitness report and a physical assessment.

Raw-read 2026-10-04 from the user-supplied NMU "Undergraduate Programmes 2027" Z-Card (A-Z table of Applicant Scores and subject percentages). AS 370 with Mathematics, 385 with Mathematical Literacy or Technical Mathematics. Mathematics 50%, or Mathematical Literacy 65%, or Technical Mathematics 65%.

Source: View the official page (mandela.ac.za) (opens the official page) · 2027 intake

University of Johannesburg

Bachelor of Health Science in Emergency Medical Care

Health Sciences · 4 years

UJ APS 27 points

  • English: level 5 if it is your Home Language, level 5 if it is your First Additional Language
  • Mathematics: level 4 (50% or more)
  • Physical Sciences: level 4 (50% or more) OR Life Sciences: level 4 (50% or more)

Read from the 2027 UJ Undergraduate Prospectus, page 67, programme code B9E01Q. Applicants must pass a fitness assessment, a phobias evaluation and a medical examination.

Source: View the official page (uj.ac.za) (opens the official page) · 2027 intake

Are your marks enough?

Put your subjects in once and we’ll check them against every programme above – scored each university’s own way.

What do I qualify for?