The University of Cape Town (UCT) is rated as the leading university in Africa and ranked among the top 200 universities in the world.

There were 99 countries represented on campus in 2018. The student body comprised:

• 23 566 South African students
• 2 003 students from South African Development Community (SADC) countries
• 1 186 international students
• 2 576 African students.

Of the 28 600 students enrolled for study in 2018, there were:

• 6 370 students living in the residence system
• 22 230 students living off campus
• 17 552 undergraduates
• 11 048 postgraduates
• 5 388 first-years
• 15 284 female students
• 13 301 male students.

Student numbers by faculty were as follows:

• Commerce – 6 674
• Engineering & the Built Environment – 4 884
• Health Sciences – 4 923
• Humanities – 7 072
• Law – 1 274
• Science – 2 846.

Around 7 200 students graduate each year.

Student financial support

• 8 026 undergraduates – nearly half – received some form of financial support.
• 1 036 qualifying students on financial aid received laptops.
• 290 UCT staff members donated part of their salaries to UCT projects, including student financial aid, in 2017.

Faculties

• Professor Alison Lewis became the first woman Dean of the Faculty of Engineering & the Built Environment in 2015.
• UCT is home to the oldest law school in South Africa. It is ranked 40th in the top 100 law schools worldwide.
• 25% of the publication output of UCT as a whole is produced by the Faculty of Science.
• On average, more than 3 peer-reviewed articles are published by researchers in the Faculty of Health Sciences every day.
• The Faculty of Commerce attracted a total of R150.4 million in research grants, contracts and donations in 2018.
• The Faculty of Humanities has produced a number of world-renowned graduates, including
  • Breyten Breytenbach (author)
  • Pretty Yende (opera singer)
  • Akin Omotoso (film-maker).

National Research Foundation (NRF)

• 1/3 of South Africa’s NRF A-rated researchers, who are considered international leaders in their fields, call UCT home.
• 18% of the country’s South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARCHi) chairs are held by academics at UCT.
• 542 NRF-rated researchers work at UCT – 15% of the South African total.
• There was a 43% increase in the number of female NRF-rated researchers at UCT between 2013 and 2017.

Interesting facts and figures

• The total area of UCT’s campuses, including its satellite facilities in Observatory, Gardens, Philippi and the Atlantic Seaboard, is 25 square kilometres.
• UCT offers 40 different sports and 102 student societies to choose from.
• There are 1.2 million physical volumes in UCT Libraries.
• 15 MOOCs (massive open online courses) are currently running at UCT, and have attracted more than 230 000 people from over 100 different countries.
• There are 3 336 professional, administrative support and service (PASS) staff, and 1 208 permanent academic staff (44% of the academics at UCT are female).
• In total, UCT earned R1.6 billion in external research income in 2018.