So, when do CAO applications actually close for 2027 entry? There is no one date that covers every programme. Every programme carries its own closing date in the CAO Handbook and programme list, and each institution decides for itself what happens to an application that arrives after that date. What follows sorts out how that system works, how a programme closing date differs from the fee deadline, and how you can pin down the date for each programme on your own list.
Here is what you will get from this page: the confirmed rules on late applications, the fee deadlines for January and July 2027 entry, what it means when a programme takes no late applications at all, and the sensible next steps if a closing date has already passed you by. Where a date doing the rounds online could not be confirmed on cao.ac.za while this page was written, that limit is said out loud instead of dressing the date up as official.
The Key Distinction: Programme Closing Date Versus Fee Deadline
Most of the confusion starts in one place: people treat two separate dates as though they were the same date.
The programme closing date
This date belongs to one programme at one institution. CAO's Terms and Conditions ask applicants to apply and pay on or before the published closing dates for their programmes. You can still send an application in after that date, but CAO will flag it as late for that programme. From there, the institution's own rules take over. In practice, that often means your application waits behind every on-time application and only gets a look if places are still open.
CAO gives this situation its own status name: Late Application. The 2027 Entry FAQs describe it in plain terms — your application came in after the programme's closing date, institutions handle late applications in their own different ways, and you should check the institution's prospectus for more detail.
The administration-fee deadline
This is a different date altogether. It is the day the CAO administration fee switches from the on-time amount to the late amount. Under CAO's Terms and Conditions, that switch happens on a single CAO-wide date: 1 November for first-semester programmes and 1 June for second-semester programmes, whatever the closing dates of individual programmes happen to be.
For January 2027 entry, CAO's 2027 Entry FAQs set the fee like this: R250 for South African citizens and R300 for international applicants when the fee reaches CAO on or before 31 October 2026, and R470 and R580 respectively on or after 1 November 2026. For July 2027 entry, the same amounts sit either side of 31 May and 1 June 2027.
That split leads to two results students often miss. Your application can carry a late flag for a programme while your fee is still charged at the on-time rate, as long as the fee reached CAO before the late-fee date. The other way round, you can end up paying the late fee for a programme that is still open, if that programme closes after the late-fee date. On its own, neither date tells you whether a programme will still look at your application.
How to Check the Closing Date for Each Programme You Want
Do not lean on one date from a general guide, a social media post, or last year's handbook. Look each choice up on its own, because two programmes at the same institution can close on different days, and a programme's closing date can shift from one cycle to the next.
- On cao.ac.za, pick the Available Programmes icon on the homepage, then Programme List in the left-hand navigation bar.
- Search using the drop-down menus — by institution, faculty, campus, programme name or career direction.
- Open a programme to see its details, including its closing date and any note about late applications.
- Do the same check for each of your up to six programme choices, and write each closing date down separately.
- Cross-check the programme in the current CAO Handbook, which you can reach from the Important Notices and News icon on the CAO homepage or the CAO Handbook icon on the homepage, as an e-book or a downloadable PDF.
- If a programme page and the Handbook seem to disagree, work to the stricter date, and confirm with CAO or the institution before you bank on the later one.
Keep an eye out for a note on the programme saying, in effect, that applications received after the closing date will not be considered. Under CAO's Terms and Conditions, a choice carrying that note drops out completely if either your application or your administration fee arrives after the advertised programme closing date. For those programmes there is simply no late route, no matter what fee you pay.
Closing Dates by Institution: What Is Verified and What Is Not
The four public universities that take undergraduate applications through CAO are the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), the Durban University of Technology (DUT), Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT) and the University of Zululand (UNIZULU). Private partner colleges also offer programmes through CAO. The notes below cover what applicants usually ask about each public institution, and where official confirmation runs out for this page.
UKZN closing dates
Students often search for one UKZN closing date for 2027 entry, but UKZN does not work that way. Its programmes stretch across several campuses, and they do not all close together. Competitive and professional programmes, especially in the health sciences, tend to close before general undergraduate programmes, and closing times can differ between campuses or entry routes. Look up each UKZN programme on its own in the CAO programme list and Handbook, and ask UKZN directly about any extra requirement — a selection test, portfolio or interview — since those steps run on their own timelines too.
DUT closing dates
DUT follows the same pattern. Its programmes cover several faculties and campuses in Durban and Pietermaritzburg, and their closing dates differ by programme. Treat any single date quoted for DUT as a whole as a place to start checking, not as a promise for your programme. If your DUT programme carries a no-late-applications note, missing its closing date closes off that choice, and switching through a Change of Mind to a programme that is still open becomes the realistic way forward.
MUT closing dates
MUT programmes differ by faculty and by entry term as well. July applicants need to be extra careful, because the second-semester cycle runs on its own dates: the on-time fee runs until 31 May, the late fee starts on 1 June, and programme closing dates are not the January cycle's dates repeated. Never carry a January closing date into a July application, or the other way round.
UNIZULU closing dates
UNIZULU works the same way, with individual closing dates listed in the CAO programme list and Handbook. A date that holds for most UNIZULU programmes does not automatically hold for all of them, and health sciences and other selective programmes may close sooner.
A note on the dates most often quoted online
You will see two dates quoted all over the internet: 30 September 2026 as the closing date for most programmes at UKZN, DUT, MUT and UNIZULU for 2027 entry, and 30 June 2026 as an earlier closing date for UKZN Medicine (MBChB) and for health sciences programmes in general. Neither date could be confirmed on the cao.ac.za pages opened for this page — the 2027 Entry FAQs and the Terms and Conditions — which explain the programme-by-programme system and the fee deadlines but do not give a single institution closing-date table in the sections read. So this page does not present them as verified official CAO dates. If you are planning around 30 September or 30 June for a particular programme, check that programme's own date in the current CAO Handbook and programme list first, because a programme can close before any general date, and a date from a third-party guide is no substitute for the programme's own published date.
Medicine and Health Sciences: Why Earlier Closing Dates Matter
Medicine and health sciences need their own warning, because these are the programmes where an early closing date most often trips applicants up. They draw heavy competition, they often add extra selection steps, and they are the programmes most likely to be marked as taking no applications after the closing date.
If Medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, nursing, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, radiography or a similar health sciences programme is on your list, check its closing date before you spend time on anything else in the application. Then check the dates for any selection test, interview or portfolio as well, because meeting the application closing date does not on its own book you a place in a later selection step. Miss the closing date for a health sciences programme that takes no late applications, and a Change of Mind to a different programme that is still open is usually the only CAO option left for that cycle — it will not reopen the programme that closed.
International applicants need to be doubly careful here. CAO's FAQs say applications to study Medicine at UKZN are considered only from citizens of Lesotho, who must apply via their governments, and that DUT and UKZN do not accept international applicants into their access programmes. Before you pay a fee, read the eligibility note for your exact health sciences programme, so you do not pay for a choice you cannot be considered for.
