The Central Application Clearing House (CACH) system which will open on 04 January 2019 is a government online service designed and introduced by the Department of Higher Education and Training to assist individuals who want to access university, college and skills development opportunities.
CACH is particularly useful for applicants/individuals who have applied for admission to a university or college in time in 2018, but have not been offered a place in their programme of choice. It is also useful for prospective students who had applied and met the entry requirement based on their grade 11 results but find that they now do not meet the entry requirements when their grade 12 results are released. CACH also provides access to skills development opportunities including artisan programmes and learnerships. Institutions with skills development or study opportunities will then select potential students from CACH database and make direct contact with those selected.
The CACH service follows the following different phases:
Phase 1: Individuals looking for space in the PSET system can contact the call centre on 0860 356 635 or SMS with their name and ID Number to 49200 and be called back free of charge. Individuals can also register or sign up online via the website: http://cach.dhet.gov.za .
Phase 2: The agents will call a prospective student back free of charge, from the contact center and verify if the person called by asking three security questions. Thereafter the agents will register all requested details on the CACH database, indicating the learners’ chosen field of study and the province they wish to study at.
Phase 3: The applicant’s personal details and matric results will be confirmed and automatically transferred to institutions of higher learning for possible admission and placement on confirmation by the applicant. The CACH service verifies the learner’s information before forwarding to institutions that still have available places.
Phase 4: Where places exist and applicants meet the requirements, institutions will contact applicants directly to offer them available places.
The CACH 2019 service will be available from 04 January 2019 to 28 February 2019; Monday to Friday from 8H00 to 18H00 and Saturday 8H00 to 16H30. Though the CACH service does not guarantee placement at an institution, it has, since its inception in 2013, proven to significantly increase prospective students’ chances, by making data readily available to all possible institutions in the Post School Education and Training (PSET) system.
Find out more on our Facebook page which is CACH_SA.