The intake into the 2011 Bphil and Mphil programme is now complete. It is our largest intake ever with 55 admitted into the BPhil and 32 into the MPhil. The intake of 55 into the BPhil is significant because this year for the first time ever we made final confirmation of admission conditional on payment of a R2000 deposit. Only once confirmation of this payment had been received was the person formally registered as accepted for admission into the BPhil programme. We recieved well over 200 applicants for the BPhil and the initial short-list based purely on standard minimum admission criteria was 104.
The second screening to reduce the number to 55 gave preference to academic scores (with a strong preference for marks above 65%), work experience and disciplinary diversity. The result is a diverse group with the majority (as in the previous two years) coming from the private sector and well over 50% are people from historially disadvantaged backgrounds. This year we have accepted a higher number of people from various African countries and an increased number of people from Europe and the USA. As far as the intake into the MPhil is concerned, we have recieved applications and Concept Notes from an impressive array of BPhil graduates with challenging topics ranging in focus from community development development, to leadership for sustainability, through to infrastructure and energy issues.