Editorial Policy

How we research: Official sources first — cao.ac.za (Handbook, Entry FAQs, Terms and Conditions, Learner Guide), then official university and government sources, then reputable education sites. Competitor articles are used only to find student questions and gaps, never copied.

Verification system: Each article page shows a verification note with the last-verified date stated in its source article, where one was stated. That date is not a fresh check on the preview date. Time-sensitive fees, dates, procedures and contact details are only stated where the source article verified them on cao.ac.za; where verification failed, the information is omitted and flagged, never invented.

What is flagged for manual review: (1) All administration fees — not harmonised across articles, fresh cao.ac.za check required before publish. (2) Programme closing dates, especially Medicine (MBChB) where third-party dates conflict. (3) Office hours — only the 2027 FAQ wording (Mon–Thu 08:00–16:30, Fri 08:00–14:00) is used as fact. (4) Postal address, sharecall number, enquiry emails, APS/programme codes, document formats/sizes, Change of Mind deadline, late-application end date, bank/EFT method and post-2027 fees/dates — all flagged unverified in the source set and omitted as fact.

Update workflow: When official information changes, the editorial team re-checks the flagged list in the maintenance log (held with the build files, not as a student article), updates the affected pages, and records the new last-verified date from the fresh official check. Old information is never auto-replaced with unverified new information, and no update is auto-published without a manual check.

Authors: Pages are by the CAO Status Check Editorial Team. No individual qualifications, experience or credentials are claimed, and no author is presented as a CAO or university official.

Corrections: Use the Contact Us page to report incorrect information, an outdated deadline, an incorrect fee, a broken link, or missing information. On this static preview the form is demonstration-only and sends nothing.

Research In Order

Research follows a fixed order. First, official sources: cao.ac.za, including the official Handbook, Entry FAQs, Terms and Conditions, and Learner Guide. Second, official university and government sources, including institution sites and gov.za and Department of Higher Education and Training material where it applies. Third, reputable education sites, used only to find the questions students actually ask and the gaps in existing explanations. Competitor articles are never copied, and their claims are never treated as verified simply because they appear on another site.

Plain Language, Official Terms Kept

Official status terms are kept exactly as CAO uses them, and then explained in plain South African English. Student wording is mapped to the official term where it helps understanding, for example “pending” is explained as Waiting for a Decision, and “provisionally accepted” is explained as a Conditional Offer. Plain language must never change the meaning of an official term, and where the official meaning is uncertain, the guide says to check cao.ac.za and the Handbook rather than guessing.

Verification And Last-Verified Dates

Each article carries a verification note stating what was checked and, where the source article stated one, the last-verified date. That date is the date from the source article; it is not a fresh check on the date you read the page. Time-sensitive fees, dates, procedures, and contact details are only stated where the source article verified them on cao.ac.za. Where verification failed, the information is omitted from the guide and flagged for manual review, never invented to fill the gap.

What Is Flagged, Not Published As Fact

The following items are flagged for manual review and are not published as fact unless a fresh official check verifies them: all administration fees, because they are not harmonised across articles; programme closing dates, especially Medicine (MBChB), where third-party dates conflict; postal address, sharecall number, and enquiry email details; APS scores and programme-specific requirements and code tables; document file formats and sizes; the Change of Mind deadline; the late-application end date; bank and electronic payment methods; and any fees or dates beyond the verified cycle. Office hours are used as fact only in the 2027 FAQ wording of Monday to Thursday 08:00–16:30 and Friday 08:00–14:00. For anything flagged, the guide directs you to check cao.ac.za and the official Handbook instead of stating a figure.

Corrections And Updates

When official information changes, the flagged list is re-checked against the fresh official source, the affected pages are updated, and the new last-verified date from that fresh check is recorded. Old information is never auto-replaced with unverified new information, and no update is auto-published without a manual check. Corrections from readers are welcome through the Contact Us page, covering incorrect information, an outdated deadline, an incorrect fee, a broken link, or missing information. On this static preview the contact form is demonstration-only and sends nothing, so a correction report made through it will not reach the editorial team until a working contact route is added; the guides themselves are still corrected through the manual review workflow described here.

Authors And Independence

Pages are by the CAO Status Check Editorial Team. No individual author is named, and no individual qualifications, experience, or credentials are claimed. No author is presented as a CAO or university official, and no guide claims insider access to CAO systems or records. The site is independent of CAO and of every university it writes about, and it receives no paid promotion from CAO, any university, or any other advertiser. Nothing on this site is sponsored content, and no affiliation is implied by writing about an institution.

What We Do Not Publish

This site does not publish invented fees, dates, deadlines, requirements, scores, or code tables; private application records or credentials; copied competitor wording; guarantees of admission, funding, or any other outcome; or claims of live access to a CAO database. Student tools on the site explain wording, calculate from figures you enter, or help you tick off preparation steps, and they never collect passwords or ID numbers and never claim to retrieve a private record. If a detail cannot be verified on an official source, it is left out and the guide tells you where to check it instead.