Sciences & the Environment

Navigating the University of Cape Town Website for Courses

The University of Cape Town (UCT) is organized into six faculties (schools) and study abroad students are eligible to take courses from five of those faculties: Commerce, Engineering & the Built Environment, Humanities, Law, and Science. You can take courses from more than one faculty, and the subject(s) or discipline(s) of interest to you may be in multiple faculties. Not all courses at these five faculties are available to study abroad students so ensure you review the following steps when choosing your courses.

Choosing Your Courses

Step One
Click here to view the current UCT Handbooks for each faculty. The handbook is the course guide with an explanation of degree plans, information on how to read course codes and the full list of upcoming courses for all undergraduate and graduate courses.

Select to view the undergraduate handbook that most closely corresponds to your program of choice to view the Core Course options:

• Engineering & Computer Science: Open the Faculty of Engineering & the Build Environment or the Faculty of Science Handbook
• Humanities, Social Sciences & Psychology: Open the Faculty of Humanities or Faculty of Law Handbook
• Business & Economics: Open the Faculty of Commerce Handbook
• Sciences & the Environment: Open the Faculty of Science Handbook
• Identity, Politics, & History of South Africa: Open the Faculty of Humanities or Faculty of Law Handbook

Step Two
Review the below guide to understand which courses are available to you based on the course codes and course levels. Each code is 8 characters, such as AA1nnnS, where:

1. AAA - The first three letters are the department code and discipline.
2. 1 - The first number is the academic level/year of study in which the course is usually taken. You are recommended to take courses with designations 1, 2 or 3.
   1 = First year course
   2 = Second year course
   3 = Third year courses
3. nnn – The 3 character number is the courses unique identifier
4. S – The single letter at the end describes the duration and semester placement of the course. You are only allowed to take courses with an S or F designation.
   1. F = first semester, which is the Spring Term on the US calendar
   2. S = second semester, which is the Fall Term on the US calendar
   3. W/H both mean the course is taught over a full year
   4. Z = non-standard period of time
   5. Summer or Winter Term Courses have a P (November – December), U (November – January) or L (June-July)

While you will need the full course code to register for courses, when first looking at your options for courses, pay most attention to the term F (Spring) or S (Fall) and to the level of the course.

Example: HST2047S Gender & History

• HST = a history course
• 2 = a second year course
• 047 = unique code for this course
• S = second semester (Fall) course

Step Three
From the Index section at the end of each handbook, locate interesting courses alphabetically. Follow the page number to discover the course description, term, level, NQF credits and requirements. It is important you review your eligibility for each course you would like to take.

At UCT, courses are validated at a level corresponding to a particular year of study. The levels are as follows:

The University of Cape Town uses HEQSF/NQF levels to determine course levels.  The following chart displays the recommended U.S. course level equivalencies:

Some modules at Level 5 and Level 6 may have pre-requisites requiring students to have already completed specific modules or equivalents at a lower level. As a study abroad student, you are not expected to have taken the specific pre-requisite requirement, but you must have studied a relevant or similar course/module in your home country/institution.

If no pre-requisites are specified, and study abroad students are not explicitly excluded in the course description, then course should be open to all students. However, you should take previous academic experience into account when making course choices.

Prior to departure, you will complete a UCT online application form on which you will indicate your preferred courses. This application is used to pre-register for courses and to allow the university to review your eligibility. Upon arrival you will go through an extensive orientation and registration period with UCT's International Office. Your course schedule will be finalized with an individual UCT academic advisor at that point.

If you have further questions regarding how to select courses or about the CEA CAPA program at the University of Cape Town, please contact a CEA CAPA Student Advisor at 1-800-266-4441.