Nelson Mandela University is a public university based in Gqeberha, in the Eastern Cape. It was formed on 1 January 2005 when the University of Port Elizabeth, the PE Technikon and the Port Elizabeth…
University of the Western CapeUWC
University
About the institution
The University of the Western Cape is a public university based in Bellville, in the Western Cape. It operates under the Higher Education Act, 1997, and its own institutional statute fixes its seat as Bellville. The university traces its origins to 1959, when it was established as a constituent college of the University of South Africa for people classified as "Coloured" under apartheid law, opening its doors in 1960 to 166 students. It gained the right to award its own degrees and diplomas in 1970 and became a fully autonomous university in 1983 under the University of the Western Cape Act. In 1982 the university adopted a mission statement rejecting the apartheid ideology on which it had been founded, in favour of nonracialism and a commitment to community development, and it marked its 60th anniversary in 2020.
Teaching is campus based, delivered from a main campus on Robert Sobukwe Road in Bellville, together with three further Bellville-area sites used for community and health sciences and for dentistry. The university has an enrolment of more than 23 000 students, supported by around 2 400 academic, professional and support staff, and is organised into seven faculties: Arts and Humanities, Community and Health Sciences, Dentistry, Economic and Management Sciences, Education, Law and Natural Sciences. Together these faculties offer more than 200 degree, diploma and certificate programmes, spanning higher certificates, advanced diplomas, bachelor's degrees, bachelor honours degrees, postgraduate diplomas, master's degrees and doctoral degrees, alongside extended curriculum programmes for underprepared entrants and short learning courses.
Entry is based on the National Senior Certificate, certified by Umalusi, with a minimum achievement rating of 4 (50 to 59 percent) in four designated subjects; meeting the minimum does not guarantee a place, since demand generally exceeds the places available. A Financial Aid Office administers government NSFAS funding on the university's behalf, runs a work-study programme, and offers its own limited financial aid to students who meet an academic and financial-need threshold.
Faculties
- Arts and Humanities
- Community and Health Sciences
- Dentistry
- Economic and Management Sciences
- Education
- Law
- Natural Sciences
- Province
- Western Cape
Campuses 4 campuses
Main Campus
Robert Sobukwe Road, Bellville, Northern Suburbs, Western Cape, 7535
+27 (0)21 959 2911 · contact no
CHS Bellville Campus
14 Blanckenberg Street, Bellville, Northern Suburbs, Western Cape, 7530
+27 (0)21 959 2150 · contact no
Mitchells Plain Campus
Fourth Avenue, Melomed Mitchells Plain Private Hospital, Mitchells Plain, Cape Flats, Western Cape, 7785
+27 (0)21 370 4400 · contact no
Tygerberg Campus
Francie van Zijl Drive, Tygerberg Hospital, Bellville, Northern Suburbs, Western Cape, 7505
+27 (0)21 937 3000 · contact no
Programme types offered
- Higher CertificateNQF 5
- Advanced DiplomaNQF 7
- Bachelor's DegreeNQF 7
- Bachelor Honours DegreeNQF 8
- Postgraduate DiplomaNQF 8
- Master's DegreeNQF 9
- Doctoral DegreeNQF 10
- Extended Programmes
- Short Learning Course
- Kept up to date by
- The institution. Updated September 2026.
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Where the campuses are
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Main CampusRobert Sobukwe Road, Bellville, Northern Suburbs, Western Cape, 7535Open in Google Maps— opens in a new tabCHS Bellville Campus14 Blanckenberg Street, Bellville, Northern Suburbs, Western Cape, 7530Open in Google Maps— opens in a new tabMitchells Plain CampusFourth Avenue, Melomed Mitchells Plain Private Hospital, Mitchells Plain, Cape Flats, Western Cape, 7785Open in Google Maps— opens in a new tabTygerberg CampusFrancie van Zijl Drive, Tygerberg Hospital, Bellville, Northern Suburbs, Western Cape, 7505Open in Google Maps— opens in a new tab
Main CampusRobert Sobukwe Road, Bellville, Northern Suburbs, Western Cape, 7535Open in Google Maps— opens in a new tabCHS Bellville Campus14 Blanckenberg Street, Bellville, Northern Suburbs, Western Cape, 7530Open in Google Maps— opens in a new tabMitchells Plain CampusFourth Avenue, Melomed Mitchells Plain Private Hospital, Mitchells Plain, Cape Flats, Western Cape, 7785Open in Google Maps— opens in a new tabTygerberg CampusFrancie van Zijl Drive, Tygerberg Hospital, Bellville, Northern Suburbs, Western Cape, 7505Open in Google Maps— opens in a new tab
Main CampusRobert Sobukwe Road, Bellville, Northern Suburbs, Western Cape, 7535Open in Google Maps— opens in a new tabCHS Bellville Campus14 Blanckenberg Street, Bellville, Northern Suburbs, Western Cape, 7530Open in Google Maps— opens in a new tabMitchells Plain CampusFourth Avenue, Melomed Mitchells Plain Private Hospital, Mitchells Plain, Cape Flats, Western Cape, 7785Open in Google Maps— opens in a new tabTygerberg CampusFrancie van Zijl Drive, Tygerberg Hospital, Bellville, Northern Suburbs, Western Cape, 7505Open in Google Maps— opens in a new tab
Main CampusRobert Sobukwe Road, Bellville, Northern Suburbs, Western Cape, 7535Open in Google Maps— opens in a new tabCHS Bellville Campus14 Blanckenberg Street, Bellville, Northern Suburbs, Western Cape, 7530Open in Google Maps— opens in a new tabTygerberg CampusFrancie van Zijl Drive, Tygerberg Hospital, Bellville, Northern Suburbs, Western Cape, 7505Open in Google Maps— opens in a new tab
Main CampusRobert Sobukwe Road, Bellville, Northern Suburbs, Western Cape, 7535Open in Google Maps— opens in a new tab
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
- Main CampusRobert Sobukwe Road, Bellville, Northern Suburbs, Western Cape, 7535Open in Google Maps— opens in a new tab
- CHS Bellville Campus14 Blanckenberg Street, Bellville, Northern Suburbs, Western Cape, 7530Open in Google Maps— opens in a new tab
- Mitchells Plain CampusFourth Avenue, Melomed Mitchells Plain Private Hospital, Mitchells Plain, Cape Flats, Western Cape, 7785Open in Google Maps— opens in a new tab
- Tygerberg CampusFrancie van Zijl Drive, Tygerberg Hospital, Bellville, Northern Suburbs, Western Cape, 7505Open in Google Maps— opens in a new tab
Main Campus
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Main CampusRobert Sobukwe Road, Bellville, Northern Suburbs, Western Cape, 7535Open in Google Maps— opens in a new tab
Main CampusRobert Sobukwe Road, Bellville, Northern Suburbs, Western Cape, 7535Open in Google Maps— opens in a new tab
Main CampusRobert Sobukwe Road, Bellville, Northern Suburbs, Western Cape, 7535Open in Google Maps— opens in a new tab
Main CampusRobert Sobukwe Road, Bellville, Northern Suburbs, Western Cape, 7535Open in Google Maps— opens in a new tab
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
- Main CampusRobert Sobukwe Road, Bellville, Northern Suburbs, Western Cape, 7535Open in Google Maps— opens in a new tab
CHS Bellville Campus
CloseCHS Bellville Campus14 Blanckenberg Street, Bellville, Northern Suburbs, Western Cape, 7530Open in Google Maps— opens in a new tab
CHS Bellville Campus14 Blanckenberg Street, Bellville, Northern Suburbs, Western Cape, 7530Open in Google Maps— opens in a new tab
CHS Bellville Campus14 Blanckenberg Street, Bellville, Northern Suburbs, Western Cape, 7530Open in Google Maps— opens in a new tab
CHS Bellville Campus14 Blanckenberg Street, Bellville, Northern Suburbs, Western Cape, 7530Open in Google Maps— opens in a new tab
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
- CHS Bellville Campus14 Blanckenberg Street, Bellville, Northern Suburbs, Western Cape, 7530Open in Google Maps— opens in a new tab
Mitchells Plain Campus
Close
Mitchells Plain CampusFourth Avenue, Melomed Mitchells Plain Private Hospital, Mitchells Plain, Cape Flats, Western Cape, 7785Open in Google Maps— opens in a new tab
Mitchells Plain CampusFourth Avenue, Melomed Mitchells Plain Private Hospital, Mitchells Plain, Cape Flats, Western Cape, 7785Open in Google Maps— opens in a new tab
Mitchells Plain CampusFourth Avenue, Melomed Mitchells Plain Private Hospital, Mitchells Plain, Cape Flats, Western Cape, 7785Open in Google Maps— opens in a new tab
Mitchells Plain CampusFourth Avenue, Melomed Mitchells Plain Private Hospital, Mitchells Plain, Cape Flats, Western Cape, 7785Open in Google Maps— opens in a new tab
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
- Mitchells Plain CampusFourth Avenue, Melomed Mitchells Plain Private Hospital, Mitchells Plain, Cape Flats, Western Cape, 7785Open in Google Maps— opens in a new tab
Tygerberg Campus
CloseTygerberg CampusFrancie van Zijl Drive, Tygerberg Hospital, Bellville, Northern Suburbs, Western Cape, 7505Open in Google Maps— opens in a new tab
Tygerberg CampusFrancie van Zijl Drive, Tygerberg Hospital, Bellville, Northern Suburbs, Western Cape, 7505Open in Google Maps— opens in a new tab
Tygerberg CampusFrancie van Zijl Drive, Tygerberg Hospital, Bellville, Northern Suburbs, Western Cape, 7505Open in Google Maps— opens in a new tab
Tygerberg CampusFrancie van Zijl Drive, Tygerberg Hospital, Bellville, Northern Suburbs, Western Cape, 7505Open in Google Maps— opens in a new tab
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
- Tygerberg CampusFrancie van Zijl Drive, Tygerberg Hospital, Bellville, Northern Suburbs, Western Cape, 7505Open in Google Maps— opens in a new tab