South Africans who want to apply for Sasol learnerships will naturally want to know how many places the company will be offering for 2027.
At this point in time there is as yet no confirmed number of learners that Sasol has announced in relation to its 2027 intake.
This is a reason why you should be careful about believing any numbers that are put forward as representing how many learners will be needed nationally for the next intake.
No overall 2027 learner quota has been confirmed
There is no indication that Sasol has made public any overall figure for the learner places that it will be offering in 2027.
It is more likely that the company will recruit depending on occupational and operational requirements. This means that the number of learners that it will be looking to take on can vary depending on the particular learnership.
It is important for potential applicants to realise that figures relating to one particular programme cannot be assumed to represent the overall national intake that Sasol will be making.
Why the 2027 intake can vary between programmes
As has already been mentioned, Sasol offers learnerships in a variety of fields. The training requirements for different occupations can be significantly different. Some of the fields in which Sasol offers learnerships include:
- Chemical Plant Operations
- Electrical
- Instrumentation
- Fitting
- Turning
- Welding
- Boilermaking
- Production
- Maintenance
- Business Administration
There can be substantial differences between the requirements of technical and production learnerships and those of business administration.
The recruitment figures that are relevant to one type of learnership may not apply to another.
What about Sasol’s 2027 technical programmes?
Technical, maintenance and production learnerships can be very different to business administration learnerships. Training for the former can also be considerably longer. Some Sasol learnerships can be as much as 36 months in duration, while others are only as much as 12 months in length. Just because a learnership runs for an extended period of time does not mean that there will be more places for it than for shorter learnerships, however.
Applicants should refer to the relevant programme advertisement for the number of places if this is disclosed.
How many students should applicants expect?
There is no verified figure that would allow potential applicants to say that a given number of students will be needed by Sasol for its 2027 intake.
It would consequently not be accurate for someone to say, for instance, that Sasol will have a particular number of national learnership recruits if they cannot back this up with a source.
The eventual number of learners that are recruited can also be different for each programme.
Who can apply?
Eligibility criteria can vary depending on which learnership one wants to apply for.
Some of the requirements include:
- Grade 12 / equivalent
- Mathematics or Technical Mathematics
- English
- Physical Science or Technical Science
- N3 / other technical qualification, depending on which learnership one is applying for
- South African citizenship
- Other personal requirements, depending on which programme one is applying for
Applicants should not automatically assume that they would be eligible for one Sasol learnership on the basis of another programme’s requirements.
Does Sasol guarantee a particular number of positions?
No, at least not on the basis of what is known at the time of writing.
Applicants should make a distinction between a learnership vacancy being advertised and a company-wide recruitment quota being announced.
If Sasol announced a vacancy with a number of positions it was looking to fill for one particular programme, that figure would apply to this one programme unless Sasol states otherwise.
What applicants should look out for
Those who are considering applying for a Sasol learnership should pay attention to the information in the programme announcements.
The most relevant information includes:
- Name of learnership
- Number of positions (if applicable)
- Occupational field
- Minimum requirements
- School subjects needed
- Location
- Duration of the programme
- Stipend
- Closing date
- Applying instructions
This is more useful than any generalised number that might be bandied around as an estimate for the entire national intake.
Why applicants should be careful when relying on numbers online
Learnership advertisements can go viral and it is important for potential applicants to keep in mind that the context in which a figure was originally given can be lost in the process.
A particular number might also represent the intake sizes for a previous year or a specific programme. These are not necessarily the same thing.
Applicants should make sure that a figure that they come across actually represents the intake number for the 2027 programme or the entire national intake rather than just a particular programme or location.
What should applicants do now?
Those who are considering applying for one of Sasol’s 2027 learnerships can review the requirements that they need in order to apply.
Applicants should also be prepared to research the requirements once the relevant programme advertisements are released.
Most importantly, they must not rely on an unconfirmed number that may or may not represent the actual national intake figure.
The answer in brief
Sasol has not confirmed a total number of learners it needs for its 2027 learnerships.
The figure can depend on the individual programme, occupation and operational requirements. If a specific number of positions is published for a 2027 vacancy, this should be taken to represent that particular programme unless Sasol specifies otherwise.
For now applicants should focus on making sure that they meet the requirements of the relevant learnership.
Editorial and fact-checking information
Editorial approach: This article makes a distinction between confirmed and unconfirmed information in relation to Sasol’s future recruitment and does not represent an estimated intake figure as an official one.
Fact-checking: This article is based on the information supplied regarding Sasol learnerships. Programme-specific details should be verified against the relevant official Sasol advertisement before publication or application.
Corrections: If Sasol later announces a confirmed 2027 intake figure, the article should be updated to reflect this.
