Admission Point Score

The Admission Point Score (APS) module works out university-style admission scores from a pupil’s academic results. It converts each subject mark into points using a configurable scale, then combines those points according to a definition that decides which subjects count, how many of them count and whether any subjects are weighted, capped or excluded.

ADAM ships with a set of built-in scales and definitions so that you can start computing scores immediately, and it lets you build your own definitions for any institution or internal award that you need to model.

How APS is Made Up

There are three building blocks:

• A scale turns a single subject mark into points. ADAM supports two kinds of scale: a band scale (a mark at or above a threshold earns a fixed number of points, such as the NSC 7-level scale) and a percentage scale (the points are simply the percentage itself).
• A definition describes a complete admission rule: which base scale to use, which subjects to include, how many subjects count towards the total, and any per-subject adjustments.
• A subject override lets a definition treat a particular subject differently — excluding it, multiplying its points, capping its points, or scoring it on a different scale.

Once these are in place, you can compute and preview any pupil’s score for a chosen reporting period.

Who Can See APS

The APS menu entries are only shown to staff whose accounts hold the relevant permission:

• View & Compute APS lets a user open Compute an AP Score and calculate a pupil’s score, view the AP Score Grade List for a whole grade, and see the APS card on a pupil’s overview screen.
• Manage APS Definitions & Scales lets a user create and edit the scales, definitions and subject overrides.

Both permissions are found in the Reporting section of the staff permissions, under the Admission Point Score heading. A user with neither permission will not see any APS options.

Computing a Pupil’s Score

Navigate to Reporting → Admission Point Score → Compute an AP Score.

Search for and select the Pupil, choose the Reporting Period you want to score (past and current periods are listed), and choose one of the available Definition entries (only enabled definitions are offered here). Click Compute.

ADAM then shows the AP Score Result, starting with the definition name and the overall Total. If the pupil has fewer counting subjects than the definition requires, the total is marked incomplete.

Below the total is a breakdown with one row per subject, showing the Subject, the Mark, the Raw pts earned from the scale, the multiplier (x), the final Points (a subject whose points were limited by a cap is marked capped), and whether the subject was Counted. Where a subject was not counted, the reason is shown in place of “No” — for example, a subject that was excluded or dropped because only the best few subjects were kept.

Viewing a Whole Grade’s Scores

Where the preview handles one pupil at a time, the AP Score Grade List shows every pupil in a grade alongside their score for each active definition, so you can compare a whole cohort at once.

Navigate to Reporting → Admission Point Score → AP Score Grade List. Choose the Grade and the Reporting Period (past and current periods are listed) and click Show.

ADAM then lists each pupil with their Pupil name and Class, followed by one column per active definition holding that pupil’s score. As with the preview, a score that draws on fewer counting subjects than the definition requires is marked with an asterisk (*) to show it is incomplete. Click any column heading to sort the list by that column — handy for finding the highest or lowest scorers on a particular definition.

Only enabled definitions appear as columns. If no definitions are enabled, ADAM tells you so and invites you to enable or create one first.

Exporting the Grade List to Excel

Above the list is an export to Excel link. Click it to download the same grade, period and columns as an .xlsx spreadsheet, ready to open in Excel or another spreadsheet program for further sorting, filtering or sharing. The incomplete-score asterisk is carried through to the spreadsheet.

Showing APS on a Pupil’s Overview

APS can also be shown as a small card on a pupil’s overview (profile) screen. The card lists each active definition with the pupil’s score for the current reporting period, and offers a Compute / breakdown link that opens the preview tool for the full per-subject working.

The card is added through the same mechanism as any other overview block — see Profile Overview Layouts. When editing an overview layout, add a block, set its Contents to Widget, and select the Admission Point Score widget from the list.

Managing Scales

Navigate to Administration → Admission Point Score → AP Score Scales.

The AP Score Scales page lists every scale with its Scale name and Type. Built-in scales are labelled Built-in in the Actions column and cannot be changed; your own scales show an edit option instead.

Adding a Scale

Click new scale at the top of the list. On the New AP Score Scale page, give the scale a Scale name and choose a Type:

• Bands (mark → points) — you define a set of levels, each awarding a fixed number of points to marks at or above a threshold.
• Percentage (points = the %) — the points simply equal the mark, so no levels are needed.

Click Save.

Editing a Scale and its Levels

Open a scale you own with its edit option to reach the Edit AP Score Scale page. You can change the name and type here, and a back link returns you to the list.

For a band scale, a Levels table is shown beneath the form. Each level lists the Mark ≥ threshold and the Points awarded at or above it. To add a level, enter a Mark ≥ value and the Points, then click Add level. To remove a level, use its delete option; ADAM asks you to confirm before removing it.

Managing Definitions

Navigate to Administration → Admission Point Score → AP Score Definitions.

The AP Score Definitions page lists each definition with its Definition name and a Selection summary (either “Sum all”, or “Best” followed by the number of subjects kept). The Actions available depend on whether the definition is built-in or one of your own.

Any definitions that have been disabled are gathered into a separate Disabled definitions list lower down the page, introduced by the note “These definitions are hidden from AP score calculations. Enable one to use it again.”

Adding a Definition

Click new definition. On the New AP Score Definition page, complete the following:

• Name — a label for the definition.
• Code — a short code, made up of letters, numbers and underscores, that report templates use to refer to this definition (see Showing APS on Printed Reports below). You can leave it blank and ADAM will generate one from the name; if the code you enter is already in use, ADAM adjusts it to keep every code unique.
• Notes — a free-text note, useful for recording the source or the exact institutional rule you are modelling.
• Subject scope — either All aggregate subjects (minus exclusions), which starts from every aggregate subject and removes only those you exclude, or Only listed subjects, which counts just the subjects you add as overrides.
• Selection — either Sum all counting subjects, which adds up every counting subject, or Best N counting subjects, which keeps only the strongest few.
• Best-N count — how many subjects to keep when the selection is set to best-of.
• Base scale — the scale used to convert marks to points for subjects that do not have their own override.

Click Save. You are taken straight to the edit page, where you can add subject overrides.

Editing a Definition and its Subject Overrides

Open one of your own definitions with edit to reach the Edit AP Score Definition page. The same fields are available, and beneath them is the Subject overrides section.

Each override lists the DBE subject it applies to and the Rule in force — either Excluded, or the multiplier (and cap, if one is set). To add an override, choose the DBE subject, then set:

• Scale — the scale to use for this subject, or (use base scale) to fall back to the definition’s base scale.
• Multiplier — how many times the subject’s points count.
• Cap (blank = none) — an upper limit on the points this subject can contribute; leave it blank for no limit.
• Exclude? — choose Exclude to leave the subject out of the score entirely, or Include to keep it.

Click Add override. To remove an override, use its delete option.

Built-in versus Custom Definitions

ADAM ships with a set of built-in definitions (see What Ships with APS below) that you cannot edit or delete. Instead, each built-in definition offers:

• clone — makes an editable copy that you own and can adjust freely. This is the intended way to base your own rule on a built-in one.
• disable / enable — hides a built-in definition from the Compute an AP Score list (or brings it back). Disabling is reversible and does not remove anything.

Your own custom definitions instead offer edit, clone and delete. Deleting is permanent, and ADAM asks you to confirm first.

Showing APS on Printed Reports

A pupil’s Admission Point Score can be printed on their report. This works through merge codes — small placeholders that a report template contains and that ADAM fills in with the pupil’s own figures as each report is generated. Report templates are usually set up for you by ADAM EduTech, so in day-to-day use your part is simply to make sure each definition you want to print has a sensible Code (see Adding a Definition); the template refers to a definition by that code.

The codes a template can use are:

• {aps_score(code):0} — the score total for the definition with that Code. The :0 controls the number of decimal places, so :0 prints a whole number.
• {aps_name(code)} — that definition’s name.
• {aps_incomplete(code)} — prints Yes when the score is incomplete (fewer counting subjects than the definition requires), and nothing otherwise.

For example, if a definition has the code nsc, then {aps_name(nsc)}: {aps_score(nsc):0} might print as NSC APS (best 6, excl. Life Orientation): 38.

A template can also list every enabled definition automatically, without naming each one, by repeating a block for each definition. Within that repeating block the codes {aps_name}, {aps_code}, {aps_notes}, {aps_score:0} and {aps_incomplete} refer to whichever definition the current row is for. This is the easiest way to print a small table of all the pupil’s scores.

If you would like APS added to one of your report templates, or you are unsure which code to use, contact ADAM EduTech at help@adam.co.za.

What Ships with APS

ADAM installs the following built-in items so you can compute scores straight away. They are provided as a convenient starting point — always confirm any institution-specific rule against that institution’s current prospectus before relying on it, and clone a definition to make your own adjustments.

Built-in scales

• NSC 7-level — a band scale awarding 7 points from 80%, 6 from 70%, 5 from 60%, 4 from 50%, 3 from 40%, 2 from 30% and 1 below that.
• Percentage — a percentage scale where the points equal the mark.

Built-in definitions

• NSC APS (best 6, excl. Life Orientation) (code nsc) — a generic National Senior Certificate score: the best six subjects on the NSC 7-level scale, with Life Orientation excluded and Mathematical Literacy capped.
• University of Pretoria (APS) (code up), University of the Witwatersrand (code wits), Stellenbosch (TP, weighted %) (code stellenbosch_tp), UCT (Weighted/Faculty Points Score) (code uct) and UP Engineering (EBIT-style, Maths & Physical Science x2) (code up_engineering) — supplied as structure-only starting points; confirm the exact rule against each institution’s current prospectus before use.
• Science-weighted APS (Maths & Physical Science x2) (code science_weighted) — a generic science-weighted variant for internal awards, counting Mathematics and Physical Sciences double on the NSC scale.

The codes shown in brackets are the built-in merge codes used to print each definition on a report (see Showing APS on Printed Reports).