UCT is an inclusive and engaged research-intensive African university that inspires creativity through outstanding achievements in learning, discovery and citizenship; enhancing the lives of its students and staff, advancing a more equitable and sustainable social order and influencing the global higher education landscape.
Students come to UCT from all over Africa and the world
In 2016, 5 278 international students studied at UCT from 112 countries (39 of them African). Of the total student population, 2 661 are from SADC countries: Angola, Botswana, Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
After graduating, UCT students take up positions in every sector of the economy, around the world. We are in contact with over 162 600 alumni in 158 countries, some 111 440 of whom live in South Africa.
Life on Campus
In 2016 UCT was home to 29 074 students (18 421 undergraduates and 10 653 postgraduates)
and 4 542 staff (1 179 academic and 3 363 professional, administrative, support and service staff).
Over the course of the year, anywhere between 100 and 1 000 students are employed by the university on a temporary basis.
There are more than 100 student societies active on campus, including academic, faith, national, cultural, political and special interest societies. Students can also choose from almost 40 sporting codes, which include a variety of disciplines from fencing and jiu jitsu to hockey, rugby and rowing.
The Jammie Shuttle service, UCT’s free transport system, makes almost 200 000 trips each year, transporting students and staff to and from the university’s campuses.
UCT Libraries is a repository of approximately 1.3 million print volumes, which are kept on 53 349 linear metres of shelves.
Transport at UCT starts with the Jammie Shuttle, but it doesn’t need to end there. There are a range of public and private transport options to help you get around campus and the city.
Residence life is a special experience. Staying in a UCT residence is an extension of students' university education, where they can benefit from all the facilities and services such as student learning centres, social and sporting activities, life-skills and peer-tutoring programmes.
UCT offers 37 sport clubs, so this is a great opportunity to carry on with the sports you loved at school or to try your hand at something completely new.
Hannah Simon, a UCT student studying biological and environmental and geographical sciences, broke rare ground when she had an article about the tension between social and environmental justice published in the acclaimed South African Journal of Science in November last year.
Four weeks of teaching at UCT were lost due to protest activity and shutdowns on campuses nationwide last year. UCT students who felt unprepared to write their exams in November, had the option to defer either individual exams or their whole exam block to January this year. Some were also offered a mini-semester of teaching to complete the 2016 academic programme.