The mission of the University of Pretoria is to be a leading research-intensive university in Africa, recognized internationally for its quality, relevance, and impact, as well as for developing people, generating knowledge, and making a difference both locally and globally. The University of Pretoria will employ quality, relevance, diversity, and sustainability as its compass points as it strives towards recognition and excellence in its primary missions of research, teaching, and learning, and incorporates involvement with society and communities within these.
About the University of Pretoria
The University of Pretoria is a multi-campus public research institution in Pretoria, the administrative and de facto capital of South Africa (Universiteit van Pretoria in Afrikaans and Yunibesithi ya Pretoria in Northern Sotho). The university was founded in 1908 as the Pretoria branch of the Transvaal University College in Johannesburg. It is the fourth institution in South Africa with continuous operations to receive the university status. From the initial 32 students studying at the university in a single late Victorian home to over 53,000 in 2019, the university has expanded. Seven suburban campuses totaling 1,190 hectares comprise the university (2,900 acres).
The institution is divided into a business school and nine faculties. The University of Pretoria Faculty of Veterinary Science is the sole veterinary school in South Africa and the second-oldest veterinary school in Africa. It was founded in 1920. The university’s Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) has continuously been regarded as the top business school in Africa for executive education and among the top 50 in the world. In 1949, the university introduced the first MBA program outside of North America. The GIBS Executive MBA was ranked first in Africa and sixty-first overall in 2012 by the Financial Times.
According to the Department of Education’s accreditation criterion, the university has produced more research outputs annually since 1997 than any other institution of higher learning in South Africa. The institution conferred the greatest proportion of master’s and doctoral degrees (15.8%) in South Africa in 2008. According to the DHET report, which was published in March 2019, UP had the greatest percentage (10,93%) of all South African institutions’ combined research output units in 2017. According to the 2019 Web of Science Index, 53 UP researchers are in the top 1%.
Although Pretoria is also used in official documents, the university is most frequently referred to as UP, Tuks, or Tukkies, and in post-nominals as Pret or UP.
Faculty and Departments At the University of Pretoria
Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences
- Accounting
- Auditing
- Business Management
- Economics
- Financial Management
- Human Resource Management
- Marketing Management
- Taxation
- Public Management and Administration
- Communication Management
- Tourism Management
Faculty of Education
- Department of Humanities Education
- Department of Science, Mathematics & Technology Education
- Department of Education Management & Policy Studies
- Department of Educational Psychology
- Department of Early Childhood Education
Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment, and Information Technology
- School of Engineering
- School for the Built Environment
- School of Information Technology
- Graduate School of Technology Management
- ENGAGE Program
- Institutes, Centres & Units
Faculty of Health Sciences
- School of Dentistry
- School of Health Care Sciences
- School of Health Systems & Public Health
- School of Medicine
Faculty of Humanities
- African Languages
- Afrikaans
- Ancient and Modern Languages
- Anthropology, Archaeology, and Development Studies
- English
- Historical and Heritage Studies
- Philosophy
- Political Sciences
- Psychology
- School of the Arts
- Sociology
- Social Work
- Social Work & Criminology
- Speech-Language Pathology & Audiology
Faculty of Law
- Centre for Human Rights
- Jurisprudence
- Mercantile Law
- Private Law
- Procedural Law
- Public Law
Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences
- Actuarial Science
- Agricultural Economics, Extension, and Rural Development
- Animal Science
- Biochemistry, Genetics, and Microbiology
- Chemistry
- Consumer and Food Sciences
- ​Geography, Geoinformatics, and Meteorology
- Geology
- Mathematics and Applied Mathematics
- Physics
- Plant and Soil Sciences
- Statistics
- Zoology and Entomology
Faculty of Theology and Religion
- Old Testament and Hebrew Scriptures
- New Testament and Related Literature
- Practical Theology and Mission Studies
- Religion Studies
- Systematic and Historical Theology
Faculty of Veterinary Science
- Anatomy and Physiology
- Companion Animal Clinical Studies
- Paraclinical Sciences
- Production Animal Studies
- Veterinary Tropical Diseases
FAQS about the University of Pretoria
Q. How many Students Does the University of Pretoria admit per year?
A. The university is a very large (uniRank enrollment range: over 45,000 students) coeducational South African higher education institution.
Q. Is the University of Pretoria a Federal or State School?
A. It is a public state-supported coeducational institution.
Q. What is the cut-off point for the University of Pretoria?
A. School-leavers must have an APS (Admission Point Score) of 35 or higher to be considered for selection.
Q. What is the University of Pretoria’s Official Website?
A. www.up.ac.za
Q. Is the University of Pretoria a good school?
A. Yes. It is ranked #452 in Best Global Universities. The university is ranked 401 in the Academic Ranking of World Universities by Shanghai Jiao Tong University and has an overall score of 4.2 stars.
Q. Are there hostels at the University of Pretoria?
A. Yes. The institution is home to 8 residences for female undergraduate students, 6 for male students, 1 for mixed undergraduate students, and 4 for mixed postgraduate students.
Q. When is the admission form coming out for the University of Pretoria?
A. Completely online applications are accepted for enrollment at the University of Pretoria in 2024. The application period for 2024 will start on April 1, 2023.
Q. Who founded the University of Pretoria?
A. The university was established by Purves (Scottish), A.C. Paterson (Scottish), and D.F. du Toit Malherbe (South African).
Q. What are the requirements for the University of Pretoria?
A. General Admission Requirements
A National Senior Certificate (NSC), certified by Umalusi, with an achievement level of 4 (50-59%) in four recognized NSC 20 credit topics is the legislative minimum prerequisite for degree study.