United in excellence since 2012

From high school, to university, to the world of work. Together.

Faculty of Best Advisory is a student-led non-profit. Our volunteers guide learners from rural and township schools into higher education, then mentor them all the way through.

Donate to FBA See our programmes

15+years of impact and excellence
1 000+beneficiaries and volunteers
50 000+learners and people reached
26public universities with an FBA footprint
100+partner schools
9provinces of South Africa

How FBA walks with you

Our model is a cycle. The learners we guide become the students who mentor, the leaders who run our chapters and the professionals who open doors for the next group.

Grade 8 to 12
We visit your school
Volunteers share their own journeys and what it takes to study after school.
Matric
We apply with you
We apply for you to universities and colleges, and help with funding applications.
First year
A mentor has your back
A senior student guides you through the move to university, so you never feel alone.
Senior student
You volunteer and lead
You mentor others, visit schools and grow into chapter and provincial leadership.
Graduate
You open doors
As a working professional you mentor students and expose them to the world of work.

Most of our 1 000+ mentors were once FBA beneficiaries. That is how five volunteers in 2012 became a national movement.

Our programmes

Aligned with South Africa's National Development Plan and Sustainable Development Goal 4: inclusive, quality education and lifelong learning for all.

Career guidance and university applications

We visit learners from Grade 8 to matric, share what it takes to get into university or college, and apply for matrics to the institutions and funding they choose.

Academic and professional mentorship

First-year students from our partner schools are paired with senior students, then with working professionals for exposure to the world of work.

Leadership

Volunteers grow from student chapter members to provincial and national leaders by running real programmes in real communities.

Entrepreneurship

Volunteers with business ideas get mentors and seminars. Many have gone on to start companies, publish books and build institutions.

Skills development and training

Practical, future-ready skills, from coding and robotics to financial literacy and emotional intelligence.

Research and policy development

Research on the challenges facing South Africa and Africa, from artificial intelligence to the just energy transition.

Advocacy, campaigns and dialogue

Campaigns and conversations on period poverty, gender-based violence, mental health, democracy and youth economic inclusion.

Best societyfor community engagement at the 2025 Wits leadership awards, and runner-up for best club and society

Five volunteers in 2012. A national movement today.

FBA started as five student volunteers who wanted learners from their home communities to have the same chances they had. It is now a registered non-profit company and public benefit organisation with impact in all nine provinces, a footprint in all 26 public universities and half of South Africa's public colleges, and growing reach across the continent.

FBA is a recognised club and society at Wits University, the University of Johannesburg, the University of Limpopo, UNISA and Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, with growing chapters at Rosebank College, the University of Pretoria, the University of Venda and TUT.

Our success and impact About FBA Our student chapters