University of Cape Town (UCT)

The University of Cape Town (UCT) is a public, research-intensive university on the slopes of Devil’s Peak in Cape Town. UCT traces its roots to the South African College, founded in 1829, which makes it the oldest university in South Africa. UCT describes itself as Africa’s leading university, and in the latest QS World University Rankings UCT climbed to 150th place, its highest position in a decade and within the top 3% of universities worldwide.

Registered name

University of Cape Town (UCT)

Type

Public university (research-intensive)

Fields funded

Scholarships and bursaries run by UCT departments, centres and partners

Website

uct.ac.za

What UCT stands for

UCT’s vision is to be an inclusive, engaged, research-intensive African university that inspires creativity and helps build a more equitable and sustainable society. UCT commits itself to academic freedom, to research that informs teaching and community service, and to knowledge that addresses challenges facing South Africa, the continent and the world. UCT points to recent research achievements such as identifying a new heart-attack gene and a landmark restitution of human remains.

In 2026 UCT co-hosted the Times Higher Education World Academic Summit with Bristol University, the first time the summit came to Africa. UCT’s Khusela Ikamva project, meaning “secure the future” in isiXhosa, tests energy, water and waste solutions on campus as living laboratories.

A fee model with no hidden levies

UCT charges fees course by course, with every add-on built in, under the rule that “the price you see is the price you pay”. Students look up each course code from their faculty handbook in the Fees Handbook and add the costs together; there are no extra levies or academic charges. Because a fees account follows a student’s academic load, students must check their course enrolment every year.

Entry requirements in brief

For degree study, UCT’s minimum requirement is an NSC with at least four 20-credit subjects at level 4 (50–59%), and English at level 2 or better as a home or first additional language. Diploma study needs level 3 in four subjects. These minimums only make an applicant eligible; faculties rank applicants, and competition for programmes such as medicine is intense.

UCT scholarships and bursaries on BursariesAfrica

UCT departments, research centres and partners fund students directly, from the Kaplan Centre for Jewish Studies and the Department of Information Systems to UCT’s International and Refugee Scholarship and the adult matric scholarship at UCT Online High School. Most of these calls are small and irregular, so read each page’s status before planning around it.

Two different UCT deadlines

Undergraduate applications for 2027 closed on 31 July 2026, and postgraduate applications close on 30 September 2026. The Faculty Points Score guide below is worth reading first, because UCT ranks many applicants on FPS rather than a plain APS.

Working out what UCT will really cost

Download the current Fees Handbook and your faculty handbook together, and calculate your real cost before accepting an offer. Apply for financial aid by UCT’s deadline at the same time as your academic application.

Compare costs and funding routes on our guide to university bursary values.