Language Program - University of Cape Town English Language Centre

The General English course is our most popular course and is designed to meet a broad range of language learning needs. You will study the systems of grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation and discourse, and the skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking. In the afternoons you can choose to focus on the language skills you need to improve most. The General English course is taught over six levels: beginner, elementary, pre-intermediate, intermediate, upper intermediate and advanced.

Many students take General English at lower levels and move on to higher level courses – such as IELTS exam preparation or English for Academic Purposes – when they are ready.

The semi-intensive course offers a balance between having time to enjoy your stay in Cape Town and making quick progress with your English. The course combines GE20 every day in the morning with afternoon electives twice a week. In the afternoon you can choose between Speaking and Listening, Reading and Writing for lower levels. At Upper Intermediate level or above you can choose between Business English and English for Academic Purposes.

The intensive course is 30 lessons a week from 9.00 to 16.00, Monday to Thursday and 9.00 to 13.00 on Friday. This is our most demanding course and is most suitable to students who are very focused on their learning, and motivated to meet their language goals as quickly as possible.

This course combines standard GE20 in the morning with elective classes focusing on specific skills or specializations. Depending on your level, you can choose between Speaking and Listening, Reading and Writing, Business English, or English for Academic Purposes. Many of our academically-focused students students combine an Intensive IELTS preparation course in the morning with English for Academic Purposes in the afternoon.

UCT was founded in 1829 as the South African College, a high school for boys. It began developing into a fully fledged university during the period 1880 to 1900, thanks to increased funding due to the discovery of gold and diamonds in the north and the resulting demand for skills in mining. During these years, UCT built its first science laboratories, and started the departments of mineralogy and geology to meet the need for skilled personnel in the country’s emerging diamond and gold-mining industries.

UCT was formally established as a university in 1918. The new university attracted substantial support from well-wishers in the Cape Town area and, for the first time, a significant state grant. In 1928, the university moved most of its facilities to a new site at Groote Schuur on the slopes of Devil’s Peak. It was here, on land bequeathed to the nation by Cecil John Rhodes as the site for a national university, that UCT celebrated its centenary the following year.

Between the 1960s and 1990s UCT was known for its its sustained opposition to apartheid, particularly in higher education. From the 1980s to the early 1990s, the number of black students admitted to the university rose by 35 percent. By 2004, nearly half of UCT’s 20 000 students were black and just under half of the student body was female. Today we have one of the most diverse campuses in South Africa.