1.4 Registration, Fees & Retakes

1.4 Registration, Fees & Retakes

Quick Answer: Book at www.nbt.ac.za, download your registration letter with the NBT reference number, and pay through Lesaka EasyPay. For the 2026 admission cycle, official FAQ/brochure fees are AQL only R195, AQL + MAT R390, and re-mark R250. You may write twice per cycle if you pay again; if you rewrite MAT, you must also rewrite AQL the same morning. Not all institutions accept a second score.

How registration works

1. Go to www.nbt.ac.za and choose Book a test (mobile browser registration is supported).
2. Follow the prompts for personal details, preferred date/site or online session, and the tests required by your programmes.
3. Use a personal email address you check daily—official communication goes there.
4. After submit, download/print the confirmation letter. It contains your barcode / NBT reference number.
5. That reference number is also your Lesaka EasyPay payment reference.

Registration is date- and site-specific. You may change a booking online until the closing date shown on the test schedule. After closing, changes stop. If you miss the session, you must book again and pay again.

Identity and name matching

Use your name exactly as on your official ID or passport. On test day, invigilators check ID against the answer sheet / registration details. Mismatches create avoidable stress and can block entry.

2026 fees (official cycle amounts)

Treat these as the amounts to memorise for the 2026 cycle (confirm on the live FAQ/brochure if you are reading much later):

Payment method: Lesaka EasyPay

The 2026 brochure lists exactly three payment routes. Take your registration letter to a Lesaka EasyPay paypoint; pay on the Lesaka EasyPay website at www.easypay.co.za; or make a direct deposit or EFT to the NBT Project. Keep the receipt. Your NBT reference number is the payment key — pay against the wrong reference and your booking may not clear. Results are also withheld until payment is verified, so an unpaid booking blocks your score even if you wrote the paper.

Fee relief: check the claim before you rely on it

Several third-party sites state that the NBT is free for NSFAS-qualifying applicants. CEA/NBTP publishes no such waiver — the 2026 brochure and the official FAQ list only R195, R390 and R250, with no exemption category. Some of those same sites also quote outdated fees (R130 is a common one) and an AQL question count of 100, both of which are wrong for 2026. Budget for the full fee, and if you need assistance, ask NBTP directly at nbt@uct.ac.za or 021 650 3523 rather than assuming a waiver exists.

Re-marks

If you believe a scoring issue needs review, the published re-mark fee for the 2026 cycle is R250. A re-mark is not a free “second opinion hobby”—use it when you have a concrete reason and understand institutional deadlines. Re-marking does not replace the need to meet faculty result deadlines.

Writing twice in a cycle (retakes)

Official FAQ rules to know cold:

• NBTP allows an individual to write the NBT twice within a cycle.
• You must pay the full fee again for the second attempt.
• If you write the MAT test a second time, you must also write the AQL test a second time that morning.
• You still cannot split AQL and MAT across different days.
• Not all institutions accept a second score—check each university/faculty before spending money on a rewrite.

Strategic retake thinking

A second write can help if:

• Your first attempt was disrupted (illness, tech failure online, venue issues)
• Your preparation was incomplete and you now have time before faculty deadlines
• Your target faculties explicitly accept the later score

A second write is wasted if:

• Your faculties ignore second attempts
• The second date’s results release misses the faculty deadline
• You rewrite MAT-focused content but ignore the mandatory same-morning AQL rewrite rule

Same-day AQL + MAT logistics

When both tests are required:

• AQL = morning (~3-hour writing session)
• MAT = afternoon (~3-hour writing session)
• Bring lunch/water; stamina is part of the exam
• You may not write only MAT; AQL is the morning anchor

Health Sciences and other competitive faculties often require both papers and set early deadlines—book early enough for scoring turnaround.

Practical booking checklist

• List every faculty’s required tests and result deadlines
• Book a date that leaves processing buffer before the earliest deadline
• Pay EasyPay promptly after registration (deadlines appear on schedules)
• Save registration letter, payment receipt, and confirmation SMS/email
• If considering a rewrite, email or check faculty pages about second-score policies first
• Prefer earlier online dates if load-shedding risk is high, so a backup date remains

Common registration failures (and how to avoid them)

Results timing and institutional deadlines

The NBTs run from May until the first Saturday in January, and the 2026 calendar lists roughly two dozen test dates across that window — each with its own online-registration close, payment close, results-to-institutions date, and results-to-writers date. Expect to log in to your NBT account for results approximately four weeks after writing (institutions typically receive them about a week earlier). Those dates are as important as the test date itself. A beautifully prepared AQL write that releases after a Health Sciences deadline is still a failed logistics plan. Build a calendar with: registration close, payment deadline, test day, results release, and faculty submission cut-off.

Connecting fees to preparation

Money and calendar discipline are part of AQL success. Writers who understand R195 / R390 / R250, EasyPay, the two-write limit, and the AQL-must-accompany-MAT-rewrite rule avoid the most expensive mistakes: unpaid bookings, missed sessions, and second writes their faculties will never look at.