Study Short Courses in Cape Town, South Africa

Cape Town at a glance

Study abroad in the harbour city of Cape Town, South Africa, a major multicultural global destination for international students worldwide. In addition to a very well developed academic study climate, Cape Town provides beautiful weather, an amazing natural setting and remarkably well-developed infrastructure attracting students to respectable university programmes. Cape Town was named the best place in the world to visit by both “The New York Times” and “The Telegraph”, while the study abroad offer by top universities is just as attractive. Cape Town was founded by the Dutch as a supply station for ships sailing to India in the seventeenth century, resulting in a settlement that, for many years, was the largest city of South Africa. Cape Town is located in the south-west corner of South Africa, near the Cape of Good Hope.

3.5M

Population
9088 - 15530 ZAR/month

Living Costs
2

Universities

Studying

Studying in Cape Town

Cape Town has plenty to offer international students wanting to embark on a degree abroad, or those just looking for an intensive university short course. Take an English-taught Bachelor’s degree or pursue a competitive Master’s programme. Benefit from diverse PhD offers and conduct relevant research in well-equipped labs. A series of affordable and high performance MBAs are available in Cape Town to support your successful business career.

Join undergraduate and graduate programmes in internationally recognised disciplines such as: industrial design, business administration, anthropology, environmental science, history, social work, psychology, computer science, engineering, and many more.

Find a wide range of specialist schools in cookery, interior design, film, animation and art, as well as a variety of English language schools.

Many study abroad universities offer semester, summer, short-term, and internship programmes in partnership with Cape Town universities as a chance for international students to gain intercultural understanding.

A series of volunteering programmes are also available for interested international students in universities in Cape Town.

Career

Career opportunities in Cape Town

As one of the main economic hubs of Africa, Cape Town is a great to study and conduct business. The multicultural and multinational climate facilitates international business relations and attracts global companies worldwide to the city.

Cape Town was even named the most entrepreneurial city in South Africa.

While historic economy sectors like manufacturing and agriculture have seen a small decline, other main branches are on the rise, including finance, business services, transport and logistics. Other important economic sectors in the city include: tourism, shipping, fashion, fishing, electronics, hospitality, and others. Cape Town has also enjoyed a growing real estate and construction market. Notable companies with offices in the city include names like: Woolworths, Foschini Group, Naspers, Sanlam, Belron, Capitec Bank, Johnson & Johnson, GlaxoSmithKline, Levi Strauss, Adidas, Bokomo Foods, or Nampak.

Life

Cape Town city life

Cape Town is an architectural marvel featuring the Cape Dutch style, a mix of architecture originating from the Netherlands, Germany, France and Indonesia. International students will find plenty to see, confirming why Cape Town has been named one of the best places in the world to visit.

Here are a few places to visit while studying in Cape Town:

Robben Island
Long Street
Table Mountain – including the Table Mountain Natural Park. You can hike or take the cableway to the top
District 6 Museum
Castle of Good Hope
Rhodes Memorial
Cape Town Stadium
Lion's Head
Kirstenboche Botanical Garden
Boulder's Beach – among other beaches with different settings and atmosphere
Cape Point

Popular sports activities in the city include surfing, kayaking, cricket, golf, rugby, or football.

During the day the taxis are full of people and are relatively safe-and extremely cheap. Cape Town has a public bus system, which is fairly cheap to ride, even though not always on time. Commuter trains or the Metro Train, runs between Cape Town's suburbs and the central downtown.

While in Cape Town, don’t miss unique opportunities to see the local fauna, by participating in whale or penguin watching, swimming with the dolphins; or go on a safari and meet lions, elephants, leopards or rhinoceros. Official tours to townships around Cape Town can reveal to you a very interesting lifestyle.

International atmosphere in Cape Town

Cape Town and South Africa in general have had a very long history with various nationalities who occupied or inhabited the region. People living in Cape Town have Dutch, German, British, French, Indian, Indonesian origins, in addition to the rest of the inhabitants coming from all over Africa. This results in a highly multicultural climate that can teach international students a lot about diversity.

Languages most spoken in Cape Town include the local Afrikaans, Xhosa and English, but you’ll also hear German, Dutch and Asian languages spoken in the city.

Weather Cape Town

Cape Town has moderately wet winters and warm summers. You might be surprised to find out that winter in South Africa lasts from June to August, with average lows of 7°C (45°F). On the other hand, summer lasts from December to March, with average highs of 21°C (69°F).

Universities in Cape Town

Cape Peninsula University of Technology

Today, this institution is the only university of technology in the Western Cape and is the largest university in the region, boasting more than 30 000 students, several campuses and service points and more than 70 programmes.

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University of Cape Town

The University of Cape Town (UCT) is South Africa's oldest university, and is one of Africa's leading teaching and research institutions.    UCT climbed 23 places, retaining its top spot on the continent in this year’s World University Rankings published by Times Higher Education (THE); placed 77th (21 places higher than in 2021) in the world for clinical and health in the latest subject rankings; and ranked in the top 100 for five subjects, including an outstanding position of being in the top 25 for infectious diseases research according to the 2023 US News and World Report Best Global Universities Rankings.          

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