The University of Cape Town (UCT) is South Africa's oldest university, and is one of Africa's leading teaching and research institutions. Situated on spectacular Devil’s Peak, UCT is Africa’s oldest and foremost university. Three worldwide rankings have placed UCT among the world’s top 200 institutions, the only African university to have achieved this distinction.
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4.0 out of 5 (49 ratings / 42 reviews) Cape Town, South Africa
Bachelor's programmes
Arts, Design & Architecture (3)
Humanities (1)
- Bachelor Philosophy, Politics and Economics
Social Sciences (1)
- Bachelor Philosophy, Politics and Economics
About
Education
UCT's reputation for excellence is underpinned by its distinctive research, led by its distinguished faculty, many of whom are world-leaders in their field. Our researchers also teach and so ensure that our undergraduate and postgraduate students benefit directly from the latest scholarly work and discoveries.
Global Student Satisfaction Awards 2019
GSSA 2019
The Global Student Satisfaction Awards empower students across the globe to determine the best universities of 2019. By rating institutions on a scale from 1 to 5, on multiple studies-related questions, we found the top educators in the world.
University Ranking
World University Rankings by Times Higher Education
2019
156 15
2018
171 -23
2017
148
World University Rankings is a vital resource that provides the definitive list of the world's best universities. They look at how often they're producing new ideas, what their reputation is around the world, and how much they're contributing to science and academic fields. After calculating and comparing these criteria, THE ranks the universities accordingly.
QS World University Rankings by TopUniversities
2019
200 -9
2018
191
2017
191
QS World University Rankings is one of the top international rankings measuring the popularity and performance of universities all over the world. They measure university reputation based on the impressions of higher education experts, companies who hire graduates, and teaching quality. QS also considers the ratio of international teachers and students present at universities, as well as the times research papers were mentioned by researchers. After calculating and comparing these criteria, QS ranks the universities accordingly.
Academic Ranking of World Universities by Shanghai Jiao Tong University
2018
301
2017
301 -100
2016
201
ARWU World University rankings is the first world university ranking. It ranks the world's top 1000 colleges and universities based on objective indicator. They look at the number of award-winning (Fields Medals and Nobel Prize) scientists who are located there, how much of their research is cited and referenced around the world, and how much they've contributed to different academic fields. After calculating and comparing these criteria, ARWU ranks the universities accordingly.
Best Global Universities Rankings by U.S. News & World Report
2019
-
2018
114 -1
2017
113
Best Global Universities Rankings by U.S. News & World Report presents all the top universities from the U.S. and 60 other countries around the world. They measure the rate of students going to their second year of studies, as well as the rate of students who graduate. It also asks university representatives on the performance of universities, and evaluates university resources, teacher salaries, graduation rates, student academic achievements and satisfaction. After calculating and comparing these criteria, U.S. News ranks the top international universities accordingly.
Services
Housing services
UCT has a three-tier residence system that provides different services, governance and management to support undergraduate and postgraduate students on and off campus.
Generally speaking, a student will initially enter a fist-tier residence (full catering), move to a second-tier residence (senior catering or self-catering) in subsequent years, and then on to third-tier accommodation (semi-autonomous self-catering).
Library services
UCT Libraries offer state-of-the-art technology, vast collections of reading and research material, and the specialized services of friendly, efficient, and helpful staff.
In keeping with its central role in the academic life of the university, the Chancellor Oppenheimer Library lies at the heart of Upper Campus, while its eight branch libraries are set in locations convenient to the faculties. The Libraries house more than 1.2 million print volumes, while their "virtual" presence – consisting of bibliographic and full-text databases, electronic books and journals, and a growing institutional digital repository – may be accessed via the Libraries' website, both on and off campus.
Student Life
Sports facilities
UCT offers more than 40 sporting codes, with a total membership of around 9 000 students and staff. So, this is a great opportunity to carry on with the sport you loved at school or to try your hand at something completely new.
Whether you’re interested in athletics, rugby, netball and soccer or archery, paragliding, skydiving and yachting, there will be something for you.
The Global Study Awards
Together with the ISIC Association and British Council IELTS, Studyportals offers you the chance to receive up to £10000 to expand your horizon and study abroad. We want to ultimately encourage you to study abroad in order to experience and explore new countries, cultures and languages.
Student Reviews
Engineering and UCT
Karmi De Villiers rated 4 out of 5 stars
The diversity of people and cultures are truly amazing. There's always an opportunity to learn more about people and how they grew up, everyone is always open to help you. The lecturers are also amazing, always available for consultation, to give you extra help, they try their best in classes as well. I don't think anything can be improved, or at least not in the...
Anonymous rated 5 out of 5 stars
I had one challenging and incredible experience, which forced me to grow in ways I never would have imagined.
Anonymous rated 4 out of 5 stars
UCT has been great so far, very helpful staff and the actual course has been challenging but enjoyable!