The future of education in Africa

The University of Cape Town (UCT) launched the UCT Online High School on 21 June 2021, becoming the first university on the African continent to extend its expertise and impact initially only to the secondary schooling market.

The UCT Online High School is today an ecosystem that has been designed to enable an entirely new generation of affordable, high quality, online learning opportunities for learners from all socioeconomic backgrounds from across the country and the continent.

We believe that learners should be afforded the opportunity to choose an aspirational school regardless of who they are or where they live.

The ecosystem currently comprises four distinct offerings:

The South African National Senior Certificate (CAPS)

We currently have thousands of learners in Grade 8 to 11 (Grade 12 will be offered for the first time in 2023) working towards achieving their South African National Senior Certificate (Matric). Our expertly delivered online curriculum comes with a wide range of subject choices, including seven national languages.

Cambridge Assessment International Education

As the most affordable, fully accredited online Cambridge International School in Africa, we are very proud to be able to offer this world class qualification to learners in South Africa and beyond our borders.

Adult Matric – coming soon

Launching shortly, Adult Matric is an affordable alternative for adults to study online, and part-time – because it’s never too late to enable a better future for yourself and your family.

Free Curriculum

An entirely free online, high-quality and interactive school curriculum for any teacher and learner to use for a broad range of South African CAPS subjects.

We are the future

At the UCT Online High School, we redefine what it means to be a school by putting every learner front and centre, right where they should be. By using the latest data-driven technology, we’re able to offer a state-of-the-art learning experience for every learner.

We revisited all the fundamental assumptions about where and how learning should happen:

• placing emphasis on impeccable support, with each learner having access to a dedicated support coach throughout their entire school career
• providing structured flexibility – a framework which allows learners to work anytime from anywhere within well-defined boundaries
• placing individual mastery right at the centre of our philosophy, ensuring that each learner masters every module before moving on to the next one, so that learners don’t progress with gaps in their tree of knowledge.

In partnership with Valenture Institute

Valenture Institute is a leading global ed-tech company founded in 2019 with the singular mission of creating aspirational learning opportunities for high school learners. Learners should be able to choose which doors they open on their educational journey.

Informed by the science of online learning, the Valenture Institute brings a depth of expertise in learning design, robust technology, sophisticated analytics and excellent support services to enable their partner schools to make the greatest possible impact.

Learn more about Valenture Institute.

Staff discounts

UCT offers the benefit of discounted tuition rates to a broad spectrum of staff employed by the university. This provides the opportunity for eligible direct dependents of staff members to benefit from quality affordable secondary school education. Each eligible staff member qualifies for staff tuition rates for their child(ren), and/or if the child(ren) is/are financially dependent on the staff member. The staff tuition rate varies from 70% to 80% of the normal fee. More information on the staff tuition rates and eligibility is included in the UCT Online High School Staff Tuition Rates policy.

The following categories of staff will qualify for an additional 10% reduction in fees when they submit an application in January annually:

1. permanent team members who fall into pay classes two to six (PC2–6)
2. pensioners who served as permanent UCT/joint/tripartite staff members
3. widows and widowers of deceased staff members and pensioners who served as permanent UCT/joint/tripartite staff members.

Read the UCT Online High School Staff Tuition Rates policy.

Vision 2030

As UCT’s Vision 2030 affirms, we are a community that is committed to solving the key problems of the continent, in this case by closing the inequality gap and unleashing the creative, academic and professional potential of Africa’s children.