Students

71 home languages listed

124 countries represented on campus

7 579 students lived in UCT’s 39 catered or self-catering student residences.

21 693 students lived off campus.

Commerce 6 746

EBE 4 866

Health Sciences 5 093

Humanities 7 398

Law 1 303

Science 3 132

GSB 734

16 699 undergraduates

11 671 postgraduates

902 occasional students

5 630 new first-years

7 320 graduates

29 272 students registered:

23 671 South African students

2 834 SADC students

1 031 students from the rest of Africa

1 598 students from elsewhere in the world

15 668 female

13 584 male

19 transgender

1 unspecified

Staff

4 928 permanent staff members

1 184 academic staff

593 male

591 female

5 assistant lecturers / junior research fellows

320 lecturers

264 senior lecturers

359 associate professors

228 professors

PhDs 739

Master’s 337

901 South African

85 African

198 international

3 744 professional, administrative support and service (PASS) staff

1 443 male

2 301 female

Rankings and ratings

UCT leads in Africa in all of the five major world university rankings:

• Times Higher Education World University Rankings
• Quacquarelli Symonds World University Rankings
• Centre for World University Rankings
• US News Best Global Universities Rankings
• ShanghaiRanking’s Academic Ranking of World Universities

UCT’s massive open online courses (MOOCs) drew 280 000 enrolments from more than 100 countries.

Memorial Hall, previously Jameson Memorial Hall, was renamed the Sarah Baartman Hall to lift her up as a potent symbol of the new campus community we are building.

Women at UCT

All four executive leaders of the academic enterprise at UCT are women, including the vice-chancellor and three deputy vice-chancellors, a rarity in higher education institutions around the world.

Dr Precious Moloi-Motsepe was elected as the university’s sixth chancellor, becoming the second black woman to hold the position. She took over from Mrs Graça Machel, who served the institution from 1999 to 2019.

National Research Foundation

13% of the country’s National Research Foundation (NRF) rated scholars were at UCT.

30% of South Africa’s NRF A-rated researchers called UCT home.

25 km² – The total size of the UCT campuses.

>1.2 million print volumes and an estimated 54 km of shelf space are available at UCT Libraries.

116 social responsiveness initiatives were in progress, covering development, education, employment, environment, gender, health, inequality and poverty. 

Almost 40 different sports codes

The Graduate School of Business (GSB) Conference Centre was completed and achieved a 4-Star Green Star rating from
the Green Building Council of South Africa.

100+ student societies are active on campus, divided into five categories: academic, national/cultural, faith, special interest and political.

15 young academics were part of UCT’s Future Leaders programme, which is aimed at retaining the best talent at UCT and on the continent, and to training the next generation of academic leaders.

*Figures correct at the time of publication