Application | UCT fees | Student Housing | International applicants| The research dissertation
A: The departments in the Faculty of Humanities are listed as well as on the Faculty website. You can navigate to each specific departmental website, from the Faculty homepage, to get an idea of programmes offered as well as staff interests and their contact details in order to find a potential supervisor (for research degrees). Please apply online utilising the ‘Applying to UCT’ tab.
For queries related to your online application, please contact the UCT Admissions Office on (021) 650 2128. You are encouraged to monitor your application status online using the UCT self-service tool.
Additional links:
A: International applicants for whom English is a second language are required to submit one of the following:
Information on the TOEFL is available from toefl@ets.org or www.toefl.org. Information on the IELTS is available through the British Council at the British consulate or embassy in your country. You may also access the IELTS website
A: The Faculty does not currently offer online or distance learning postgraduate degrees. Regarding PhD studies, the University rules state:
“During his or her period of registration a candidate will normally be required to attend at the University for a period of at least one year. By “attend at the University” Senate understands that the candidate shall, within reason, be readily available for discussion at the University.”
You could contact the specific department that you are interested in within the Faculty of Humanities to discuss your PhD research interests and determine whether there is a suitable supervisor available who would agree to less contact time.
A: You can track the status of your application online using your unique UCT application number.
A: Student fees are available in the UCT Fees booklet, from the UCT Fees Office and from the main UCT website. If you require a pro-forma invoice, please fill in the form and send it to the UCT Fees Office. You can contact the UCT Fees office on: +27 21 650 1704. Alternatively email: fnd-feeenq@uct.ac.za. Click here for details on UCT fee payment methods .
A: You will have received a letter via e-mail indicating that UCT is making you an offer for admission to postgraduate studies. Registration dates for coursework postgraduate programmes are set each year for a week in February and you may only register during this time. UCT Registration dates are available online. Candidates accepted for research Masters (100% dissertation) and PhD degrees may register throughout the academic year but it must be before 1 May if it is to count as the first academic year of study (towards the minimum period of registration). There are 3 main steps to follow in order to become registered with the Faculty:
A1: For information on the various student residence options on campus, please contact Student Housing Accommodation & Advocacy Services (SHAAS):
Tel: +27 (0)21 650 2977
Fax: +27 (0)21 650 4014
Email: res@uct.ac.za
A2: For residence outside campus, please contact Off-Campus Student Accommodation Services (OCSAS):
Tel: 021 650 4934
Fax: 021 650 5595
Email: ocsas@uct.ac.za
Visit the OCSAS website
A: Yes, please refer to the PDF document entitled: Research proposal guidelines PhD Masters which can be downloaded from the Humanities website.
A: A formal research proposal, supported by both your supervisor and head of department, needs to be submitted to the Faculty Office within six months of your first registration. This is to ensure that all concerned with the pursuit of the PhD, viz. the student, the supervisor, the Head of Department and the Faculty, are given or provide every possible support in order to promote the successful completion of the thesis in the soonest possible time. Your departmentally-approved proposal, along with a completed proposal approval form indicating ethics approval - where relevant - must be submitted to the Faculty within this six month period. Once submitted your proposal will undergo Faculty Board approval followed by ratification by the Doctoral Degrees Board, confirming your candidature as a doctoral student at UCT.
A: Ethics clearance is obtained and filed at departmental level - your departmental ethics representative will be able to send you the appropriate forms. From the Faculty side, we request that the departmental ethics representative signs off on the PhD proposal, verifying that the process of ethics approval has been carried out and clearance obtained where necessary. This signature is expected on the proposal approval form, to be completed once the department has approved the PhD proposal and is ready to submit to the Faculty. For further information regarding Ethics clearance at UCT, access the Research Ethics Policy.
For a PhD thesis:
The final dates for submission of such notification (intention to submit form) for the purpose of graduation are:
The dates for submission of theses are:
For a Masters dissertation:
Please note: The Postgraduate Office and Doctoral Degrees Board Office do not undertake to reach a decision on the examination outcome by any specific date.
A: The fee rebates due for submission of both PhD theses and Masters dissertations are published on page 23, section 8 of the UCT Fees Handbook