UWC Impact SDG4

UWC connects quality education with access, participation and learning throughout life. In 2025, this work reached school learners, teachers, adult learners, professionals and communities through public resources, short courses, outreach and partnerships, alongside the University’s degree programmes. This account brings those activities together with the policies and longer-running relationships that support them, keeping the dates of earlier work and 2024/2025 reports visible.

An educational mission that reaches beyond the classroom

The University of the Western Cape’s contribution to quality education combines formal study with school partnerships, adult-learning pathways, professional development and learning with communities. Its 2025 General Calendar places excellence in learning and teaching alongside a public-good mission and a commitment to inclusion. The account that follows brings together activities delivered in 2025, opportunities advertised for that year, and the longer-running relationships and earlier work that help explain them. [2, p. 2] [2, p. 3]

Quality education also depends on how teaching is organised and supported. The Directorate of Learning, Teaching and Student Success works with faculty leadership and teaching specialists across UWC’s seven faculties on curriculum, staff development, student support and evaluation. This institutional role connects disciplinary teaching with academic development across the University. The examples on this page show different parts of that work, including professional preparation, accessible learning, public scholarship and continuing education. [23]

UWC connects education with the knowledge, priorities and experience of communities. Its Community Engagement Unit supports equitable partnerships and treats engagement as part of teaching and research. This approach creates opportunities for university staff, students and community partners to learn from one another while addressing practical needs. The examples below span school science, mathematics teaching, career guidance, community learning and regional education partnerships. [81]

Educational resources beyond degree enrolment

Open public-health learning materials

UWC’s School of Public Health shares teaching materials beyond its registered student body through an openly accessible collection of module guides. The collection includes epidemiology, health promotion, health information systems, management and other public-health subjects. The School shares these resources under a Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial–ShareAlike licence unless otherwise stated, with copying, adaptation and redistribution subject to its conditions. The School also shares educational presentations and lecture and webinar recordings. This provides a practical resource for health educators, practitioners and independent learners across Africa and elsewhere. The archive is a continuing resource: some module guides were developed many years ago and require updating before teaching use. It does not confer registration or a qualification, and the freely shared guides do not include every prescribed reading from the original courses. [31] [32]

A funded route to land-governance expertise

In 2025, PLAAS advertised a no-fee, accredited learning opportunity for selected land professionals and policymakers through The Political Economy of Land Governance in Africa. The course was scheduled online from 31 March to 4 April in collaboration with the African Land Policy Centre, funded by GIZ in partnership with UNECA through NELGA. The programme addressed land tenure and reform, women’s rights, conservation, food systems and climate pressures. A Certificate of Competence required attendance at every session and successful completion of all assessments. A Certificate of Attendance required at least 80% attendance and participation in half of the in-session assignments. Applicants normally needed a degree and three to four years’ experience; the call also considered applicants without degrees who had ten to fifteen years’ experience. Selected participants paid no course fee but supplied their own internet access. UWC’s rectorial record separately lists the virtual graduation on 24 June 2025. [33][34]

Removing tuition and material costs in digital training

The Future-Innovation Lab’s undated Cohort 5 recruitment brochure describes a ten-month, full-time pathway into software development for unemployed, previously disadvantaged South African young people aged 18–35 with matric. The offer comprises two accredited short courses, full tuition waivers, monthly support stipends, and course materials, software, support systems and tools supplied without charge. Learning combines software and cloud technologies with design thinking, product development and a capstone project. [35]

Creative resources for non-formal learning

Public learning resources also extend into the humanities. FRAYMWURX, a zine by Scott Eric Williams created for the 2025 Tales of History Retold exhibition at UWC’s Iyatsiba Lab, is available in digital form. It connects artists’ works in progress with prompts intended to stimulate creative practice, carrying learning beyond an exhibition visit. UWC’s Library also promotes open educational resources as a way to reduce the cost of learning materials and support self-directed, informal and peer learning. [36] [37]

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A hand holds the cover of the FRAYMWURX zine in front of a framed image. Source context: FRAYMWURX, by Scott Eric Williams. Credit: Zine creator: Scott Eric Williams. Image source.

A locally grounded resource for community educators

In September 2025, the School of Public Health made available No Label, a glossary developed with NACOSA, H.O.P.E Africa and Triangle Project through a collaborative research initiative. Its 60 gender and sexuality terms are explained in English, isiXhosa and Afrikaans, with meanings grounded in South African contexts. The resource was developed with and for trained community-based facilitators and educators in sexual and reproductive health. It supports facilitated discussion with adolescents and young people, rather than distribution without educational support. By publishing a downloadable version, the partners extended access to a practical teaching resource while making its intended use clear. [59] [116, acknowledgements and intended use]

Practical civic-learning resources

The Dullah Omar Institute produced a set of public factsheets to help civil-society and community-based organisations participate more effectively in local government. Published in December 2025, the downloadable materials address municipal structures, community participation in integrated development planning and budgets, service delivery, community safety, and anti-corruption. Written by the Institute's researchers with support from the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives and the SARChI Chair in Multilevel Government, Law and Development, the materials translate specialist knowledge into a resource expressly designed for training and community accountability. [95]

Research repositories as a knowledge resource

UWC’s digital knowledge infrastructure also makes scholarly work discoverable beyond individual courses. The eResearch Office describes three Library-managed institutional repositories collectively known as UWC Scholar: the Electronic Theses and Dissertations Repository, the Research Repository for UWC-authored publications, and Kikapu for research data. Its guidance connects sharing with transparency, validation and opportunities for collaboration, while requiring researchers to consider legal and ethical constraints, especially where personal information is involved. These repositories complement teaching resources by providing routes to research literature and data; access and reuse depend on the conditions attached to each item. [108]

Professional and community short learning

Continuing legal education for working adults

CENTROW’s Short Learning Programme in Labour Law offered a structured continuing-education route for working adults. The published schedule planned eight courses between 15 February and 15 November 2025, covering legal foundations, individual and collective labour law, dispute resolution, employment equity and social security. The advertised model combined online learning, interactive teaching, readings, case studies and recorded sessions, with a Certificate of Competence and a fee of R4,500 per course. Entry requirements recognised relevant work experience alongside NQF Level 6 or equivalent qualifications. A separate implementation account published by UWC’s CIECT on 4 September 2025 describes the related Basic Labour Law course for EBMTC/NUM workers: learners attended a physical classroom while support staff joined online, used structured resources on iKamva and received step-by-step help with their first online quiz. [38][39]

Applied public-finance learning across Africa

The fifth African School on Decentralisation brought 24 participants from ten African countries together from 13 to 25 October 2025. UWC’s Dullah Omar Institute and Addis Ababa University’s Centre for Federalism and Governance Studies combined comparative teaching with discussion, case studies and practical engagement around decentralisation and finance. A Western Cape Provincial Parliament visit and contributions from the Commonwealth Local Government Forum connected academic concepts to public administration, municipal leadership and funding challenges. The public application call welcomed government officials, governance practitioners, NGO representatives and relevant postgraduate researchers. Tuition was waived, but participants were responsible for travel and a R18,000 contribution towards meals and accommodation. The school therefore illustrates supported professional learning, with participation costs stated transparently. [41] [42] [117]

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A group of participants poses together on a street with brightly coloured buildings. Source context: Looking back at 2025: Celebrating the 5th African School on Decentralisation. Image source.

Specialist pharmaceutical-policy learning without a full degree

The School of Public Health’s 2025 Pharmaceutical Policy and Management module offered a standalone route alongside its Master of Public Health pathway. Scheduled from July to November, the online module combined weekly activities, webinars, discussion forums and two assignments over approximately 15 weeks. Successful standalone participants could obtain an official UWC transcript recording 15 credits, equivalent to 150 learning hours. Its professional focus included policy analysis, medicine quality, procurement and supply, human resources and antimicrobial issues, with particular attention to pharmacovigilance in 2025. The published call targeted policymakers, managers, advisers, consultants and academics, subject to an appropriate qualification. Advertised fees were R5,345 for South Africans and African citizens, and R16,985 for other international participants. [43]

Climate and health skills for frontline practice

From 24 to 28 November 2025, UWC’s School of Public Health and the Western Cape Government’s Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning delivered an inaugural short course on climate change and health. It was designed for frontline health workers, environmental-health and air-quality practitioners, nurses, allied health workers and NGO staff working with communities. Three classroom days and two field-visit days linked climate and air-pollution knowledge with risk assessment, mitigation, adaptation and professional advocacy. The course announcement specified HPCSA continuing-professional-development accreditation. The South African Medical Research Council subsequently confirmed delivery and its contribution to teaching. [44] [45]

Practical learning for local entrepreneurs

UWC’s Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation used its Networking and Co-Working Space at the UWC Innovation Hub for investment-readiness, introductory AI, financial-literacy and DEDAT bootcamp activities in 2025, alongside a Youth Employment Summit. The facility, opened in September 2024, serves both CEI students and the wider local business community. Its training room and collaborative workspaces provide a setting in which business owners can work on practical skills, meet peers and connect with support. [46]

Business coaching with an applied learning focus

A further 2025 partnership between UWC’s Small Business Clinic and University of Missouri colleagues opened a business-coaching application route to local small-business owners as well as student entrepreneurs. In-person sessions at the clinic on 24, 29 and 31 July covered orientation, accounting and financial training, and sales and marketing. Participants practised separating business and personal finances and preparing basic financial statements; coaching also connected classroom learning with the UWC Entrepreneurship Expo. The partner report records attendance varying between sessions and notes that most participants were student entrepreneurs. It describes encouraging early responses, while acknowledging that formal evaluation was still under development. The programme planned further online sessions through December 2025. [47]

A no-fee civic-training opportunity on the West Coast

In November 2025, the Dullah Omar Institute advertised a free short training programme for community-organisation leaders, activists, service-delivery representatives and civil-society leaders in the Western Cape. Scheduled for 8–10 December in Saldanha Bay, Building Capacity for Civil Society to Participate in Local Government Performance focused on municipal governance, planning and budgets, accountability and corruption. The notice invited relevant local stakeholders to apply and stated that accommodation would not be provided. [96]

On 8 December 2025, the Institute reported that the three-day programme had begun in Saldanha and that its local-government factsheets were being used as a core training resource. [114]

A long-running public-health learning platform

The School of Public Health’s professional-learning provision has a history extending back to its Summer and Winter Schools, established in 1992. Its account of the transition after the 2020 pandemic records more than 12,000 participants from South Africa and other African countries over the earlier programme’s history. The School then developed a more varied online continuing-professional-development offering, combining webinars, short courses and other learning activities. This background explains the institutional experience behind the specific 2025 modules and courses described here. The historical participation total spans many years and is separate from attendance at the 2025 activities. [109]

Public events and shared intellectual life

Sharing research with the broader community

UWC’s professorial inaugural lectures are public occasions intended to share scholarship with colleagues, students and the wider community. The 2025 archive illustrates their disciplinary range. Professor AJ Smit’s lecture on 15 October explored South Africa’s coasts, ocean currents and climate. On 16 October, Professor Marichen van der Westhuizen examined how social work and artistic practice can support creativity, self-expression and social cohesion. The archive makes lecture recordings available, extending opportunities to engage with the material beyond the event. [49]

A free public documentary and discussion

PLAAS advertised a free public screening of Indalo Yethu at UWC’s Library Auditorium on 27 August 2025, followed by a discussion. The documentary brought research on conservation, livelihoods, land and heritage into a format accessible beyond academic publications. Presented within the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences’ Women’s Month programme, the advertised event offered an opportunity to consider how conservation policies interact with the lives and knowledge of communities. The announced panel, chaired by Professor Moenieba Isaacs, included discussants from Manenberg, Lavender Hill, Khayelitsha and Macassar. [120]

Public dialogue on entrepreneurship and opportunity

The ninth Archbishop Thabo Makgoba Development Trust Lecture, hosted at UWC in May 2025, addressed how entrepreneurship education could respond to youth unemployment and inequality. Contributions from UWC, Stellenbosch University and the Western Cape Government linked curriculum, practical skills, mentoring and access to networks. The university’s retrospective framed the lecture as a platform for critical public discussion about education’s role in expanding opportunity. Its value for lifelong learning lies in making economic and educational questions available for debate beyond a formal qualification programme. [51]

Health justice as a public conversation

The School of Public Health invited audiences to its Annual David Sanders Lecture in Public Health and Social Justice at UWC for 22 October 2025. The published event page identifies Kenyan writer, journalist and activist Kevin Mwachiro as the guest speaker, while the rectorial address records the theme of decriminalising homosexuality and supporting LGBTQI rights in African public health. The event page identifies the campus venue and includes an embedded lecture-video link. These records place health alongside rights and social justice, connecting public-health learning with a wider public conversation. [52] [122]

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2025 Annual David Sanders Lecture in Public Health and Social Justice, advertised for 22 October 2025. Image source.

Constitutional history and civic learning

UWC’s 15th Dullah Omar Memorial Lecture provided a public-facing setting for reflection on constitutionalism and human rights in 2025. The official programme for 21 October identifies Professor Emeritus Nico Steytler as the speaker on Omar’s legacy as a human-rights lawyer. Its biographical account recalls Omar’s work as an apartheid-era lawyer, constitutional policymaker and democratic South Africa’s first Minister of Justice. The rectorial address connects that history with the responsibility to uphold human rights, constitutional governance and the rule of law. The lecture series brings university expertise into public discussion of rights and democratic accountability. [123] [124]

History, faith and the work of justice

The Jaap Durand Chair brought questions of identity, justice and nationhood into discussion through a seminar held on Slave Emancipation Day, 1 December 2025. The programme included an annual lecture by author and public intellectual Patric Tariq Mellet on restorative memory, indigeneity, slavery and restorative justice. Within UWC’s wider intellectual life, this connected historical enquiry with contemporary debate about a just and participatory society. [55]

Literary exchange and creative learning

UWC’s contribution to the Nobel in Africa Symposium on 5 November 2025 connected literary scholarship with creative practice. The Jaap Durand Chair and Faculty of Arts and Humanities co-hosted the UWC segment of a programme spanning three Western Cape universities. The outreach programme also scheduled a masterclass for aspiring UWC writers. The programme also paid tribute to Professor Zoë Wicomb. This offers a distinct example of learning through cultural and intellectual exchange in the reporting year. [55] [56] [119]

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Three symposium participants sit together during a discussion. Source context: UWC Hosts Nobel In Africa Symposium And Pays Tribute To Professor Zoë Wicomb. Credit: Picture: Shelley Christians/UWC. Image source.

Public humanities alongside the Winter School

The Centre for Humanities Research’s 2025 Winter School was scheduled at its Iyatsiba Lab from 7 to 11 July, with freedom as its organising theme. Alongside the academic programme, two advertised keynote lectures were explicitly public: Federico Cuatlacuatl was scheduled to speak on 8 July about transborder Nahua futures, while Monika Mehta’s 10 July lecture was advertised on Hindu nationalism and digital-media regulation in India. The arrangement demonstrates how an academic school can create additional opportunities for wider audiences to encounter international scholarship. [57]

Extending health learning through online discussion

In 2025, the School of Public Health helped turn the GT4Africa collaboration’s research into opportunities for shared learning. A July webinar, co-convened with United Nations University through the Africa Community of Practice on Gender and Health, launched a journal supplement on gender-transformative approaches to sexual, reproductive and maternal health. More than 200 participants joined from research, civil society, regional organisations and funding bodies. A closing webinar on 21 August reflected on the collaboration’s experience and future directions. [58]

Taking science learning into schools

Practical science and pathways to university in Khayelitsha

During 2025, UWC reported the continuing work of AmaQawe ngeMfundo, the NGO led by Professor Fanelwa Ngece-Ajayi in the Faculty of Natural Sciences. Working with learners at Luhlaza and Joe Slovo high schools in Khayelitsha, the initiative links school-based science experiments with tutoring, career guidance and opportunities to meet professionals. Its model brings experiments into schools and draws on student volunteers, including UWC undergraduate and postgraduate students. It also helps learners explore routes into higher education and access to funding. The programme, established in 2017, addresses a practical transition barrier: learners may reach university without previous experience of a science laboratory. Its continuing school partnerships show how academic expertise can support learning before university entry. [61]

AmaQawe ngeMfundo won the NGO category at the 2025 NSTF-South32 Awards. UWC’s August account again identified Luhlaza and Joe Slovo high schools as current beneficiaries, recognising the programme’s sustained work to connect science learning with pathways into university. [62]

From a school visit to computational thinking

A UWC careers and science talk at Soneike High School in August 2025 led to computational-modelling workshops for Grade 10 learners. Ian Schroeder, from UWC’s Physics and Astronomy teaching environment, developed the initiative with the school, building on a relationship begun in 2023. Five current and former physics students volunteered as facilitators for two Saturday sessions. Because many learners lacked laptops, the practical sessions used UWC’s 72-seat Physics computer laboratory. Learners used VPython to simulate motion, generate graphs and connect computer models with smart-cart experiments. Careers input and an introduction to UWC’s online learning environment accompanied the practical work. The school-based talk and subsequent campus sessions connected outreach with access to university learning facilities, while giving student volunteers experience in explaining scientific ideas to younger learners. [60]

Connecting school learners with science careers

The South African National Bioinformatics Institute’s 2024 report records an educational partnership at Sarepta Secondary High School. Working with the principal and Life Orientation teacher, alumni Ruben Cloete and Ashley Hendricks arranged a March careers day for 185 matric learners. Professionals helped learners explore career choices and routes beyond school. The relationship continued when Cloete hosted two high-school learners for job shadowing in September 2024. This earlier example combines school-based guidance with a later opportunity to encounter scientific work directly. [112, p. 16]

Youth 4 Science and early encounters with public health

On 25 July 2024, PHA4GE’s secretariat hosted learners from Woodlands Primary in Heideveld at SANBI’s offices as part of Youth 4 Science. Staff introduced pathogens, the immune system and medicine production in ways designed to make science engaging and to open discussion of possible careers. The visit was arranged with UWC Institutional Advancement and Great Commission United. It complements the school-based careers initiative through a campus encounter with scientists and their work, with both activities retaining their actual 2024 dates. [112, pp. 16–17]

Helping school learners navigate educational opportunities

Student-led guidance in Lawley

In July 2025, a participant in UWC’s Ubuntu Peace Programme returned to Thuto-Lefu Secondary School in Lawley, Gauteng, to work with Grade 11 and 12 learners. Following a March programme workshop and support from the Centre for Student Support Services, he organised activities, provided career guidance and shared resources for higher-education applications. The school’s response identified access to prospectuses and career advice as important challenges in the transition to further study. The visit illustrates how a university-supported student initiative can take practical information into a school community and help learners consider the next steps in their education. [63]

Encouraging primary-school learners in Belhar

For Mandela Day 2025, the Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Innovation visited Dr Van der Ross Primary School in Belhar. Professor José Frantz addressed Grade 7 learners about education, perseverance and future aspirations, and the team distributed stationery packs. The activity combined a school-based educational encounter with practical learning resources. It is a distinct, occasion-based contribution alongside UWC’s longer-running school partnerships. [64]

A sustained partnership in the Eastern Cape

UWC’s partnership with the Local Government SETA, the Eastern Cape Department of Education, the Sarah Baartman Education District and Ndlambe Local Municipality supports mathematics, physical science and career guidance across nine high schools. The University’s September 2025 account describes a three-year funding commitment for 300 learners, confirmed in April 2024. The partnership’s June 2024 winter school provided two weeks of tuition and career guidance to 98 Grade 12 learners and 200 Grade 10 and 11 learners. This established partnership connects university, government, schools and local leadership in support of educational opportunities in rural and peri-urban communities. [65]

Connecting learners with a university environment

UWC’s relationship with Kutlwanong ProMaths, established in 2024, continued through an October 2025 campus visit involving Grade 12 learners from seven provinces, along with staff and teachers. The visit enabled prospective students to explore university facilities and study opportunities. In December, UWC’s annual Principal’s Luncheon recognised 50 feeder schools and its relationships with the Western Cape Education Department and corporate partners. These activities document a continuing school–university network and work to support progression into higher education. [82] [83]

Strengthening teachers and classroom practice

A specialist centre for science and mathematics education

The Science Learning Centre for Africa is the community-engagement extension of the School of Science and Mathematics Education in UWC’s Faculty of Education. Its established remit combines teacher professional development, learning opportunities for school learners and research into science education. The Centre promotes practical and engaging approaches, including cooperative and problem-based learning, and connects science and mathematics with arts and entrepreneurship. Its work with partners also includes strengthening the resources available for science learning in schools. This specialist capacity supports UWC’s wider commitment to working with teachers and learners. [66]

Teachers learning from one another

UWC’s LEDIMTALI initiative brings mathematics educators, teachers, mathematicians and curriculum advisers together around classroom practice. A teachers’ conference reported in January 2025 created space for teachers from Cape Town schools to discuss practical challenges, including the terminology used in mathematics teaching and assessment. Teachers shared experiences of working in communities facing significant socioeconomic pressures, alongside approaches such as productive practice and assessment-item design. The initiative positions teachers as contributors to professional knowledge and connects classroom experience with university-supported research and development. [67] [121]

Turning classroom evidence into usable resources

By June 2025, the conference proceedings had been published. UWC’s account highlighted spiral revision: returning to earlier concepts at intervals so that learners can strengthen the knowledge on which new mathematics depends. The proceedings were intended to widen access to teachers’ experiences and reduce professional isolation. The linked LEDIMTALI resource site makes classroom materials available to teachers, including English and Afrikaans materials on topics such as algebra, functions, geometry and trigonometry. These resources connect professional discussion with tools that teachers can take back into their teaching. [68] [69]

Bilingual materials for school science

UWC's Centre for Multilingualism and Diversities Research contributed to the Bilingual Learning Materials project, which produced iSayensi Yethu with collaborators at the University of Cape Town and the bua-lit language and literacy collective. Developed for Grade 4 Natural Science and Technology, the resource combines isiXhosa and English to help learners engage with scientific concepts through both languages. UWC's November 2024 account describes a Khayelitsha school pilot and Western Cape Education Department endorsement. A downloadable second version is publicly available through bua-lit under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. It permits sharing and adaptation with attribution and an indication of changes, enabling teachers to work with the material in their own settings. The work complements the Languaging-for-Learning initiative's development of bilingual classroom practices in ten Cape Town high schools in 2022–2023. [97] [98, licence, p. iv]

Creating shared spaces for mathematics and technology learning

A national mathematics partnership

UWC hosted the inaugural Mega Maths Festival in July 2025 in partnership with the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences South Africa. The Department of Higher Education and Training initiated the festival with European Union support. It brought learners, educators, university students, researchers, industry representatives and policymakers into a shared discussion about mathematics education and its wider applications. The partnership linked school learning with higher education, employment and national development. [70]

The festival welcomed hundreds of high-school learners. Sessions considered mother-tongue-based bilingual education in mathematics, the transition from school to university mathematics, and links between mathematical sciences and employment. At Mega Maths Tech Day, learners who had attended nine earlier AIMS workshops demonstrated coding and peer learning with mentorship from AIMS master’s students. These activities took place at UWC and illustrate the University’s role as a host for educational collaboration and public-facing learning. [71]

Applying coding and robotics knowledge

An official UWC welcome address dated 2 August 2025 records the World Robot Olympiad Western Cape South Provincial Competition at the University. It welcomes primary- and high-school learners, parents, educators and mentors, and describes young people designing, programming and testing autonomous robots. The address connects this practical work with creativity and applying knowledge to real-world challenges. It thanks Dr Anthony Williams and work-study students from UWC’s Faculty of Education for organising the event. [125]

Preparing reflective and context aware teachers

Learning to teach in unequal contexts

In a Foundation Phase teacher-education activity reported in April 2025, more than 50 first-year BEd students attended a camp at Wemmershoek in Franschhoek. The programme asked students to reflect on their own school experiences, including bullying and favouritism, and to consider the teachers they wanted to become. Team activities explored problem-solving, collaboration and the effects of inequality. The educational purpose was to connect future classroom practice with an understanding of learners’ different circumstances and to build relationships among students entering the programme. [13]

Adult education as an academic field

The 2025 catalogue’s Adult Education and Global Change master’s route situates lifelong learning within a field of study concerned with professional practice and the relationship between local and global contexts. Alongside initial teacher education, this route recognises that educational work takes place in workplaces, communities and changing social settings. Entry requirements and faculty rules govern participation. [20]

Recognising learning acquired through work and life

A supported route into university

UWC’s Recognition of Prior Learning for Access Portfolio Development Hybrid Programme gives adult learners a structured way to bring professional, community and life experience into higher education. The November 2025 account describes an annual programme established in 2020 and records the celebration of its 2025 class on 6 November. Portfolio preparation is combined with academic development and university readiness. The emphasis is on helping candidates articulate and assess what they know while preparing for the demands of academic study. [3] [4]

The South African Qualifications Authority’s participation in the 2025 ceremony reflected a continuing relationship around RPL policy and practice. UWC’s account records SAQA’s recognition of the institution’s approach and its collaboration with international specialists in adult learning, mentoring and the validation of prior learning. The partnership supports candidates in turning experience outside formal qualifications into an assessed access route through academic preparation and guidance. [3]

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Group photograph accompanying the UWC Recognition of Prior Learning event report; event 6 November 2025, article published 12 November 2025. Image source.

Connecting the post school system

The RPL pathway also sits within a broader articulation agenda. In November 2024, UWC described the Articulation and RPL Hub within the Unfurling Post-School Education and Training initiative. Discussions involved institutional academic and quality-assurance staff and SAQA, with proposed further engagement with faculties and TVET colleges. This earlier work provides the background to efforts to connect learning across institutional and qualification boundaries. [5]

UWC also announced an employer-focused RPL pilot for 2024/2025, developed through the RPL Unit, Human Resources and staff development. The intention was to recognise knowledge held by experienced employees and support further development. The April 2024 account describes the pilot’s purpose and a national dialogue involving universities, local government and qualification bodies. The initiative was at design stage when announced in April 2024. [6]

Within formal academic provision, the 2025 Annual Report records Senate approval to increase RPL admissions to the Postgraduate Diploma in Labour Law. This provides a specific example of an alternative access route within a professional field. [1, p. 31]

Making access a supported educational pathway

Scholarships with academic and leadership support

The Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program at UWC addresses barriers that can prevent academically talented young Africans from entering higher education. The call for the 2025 academic year explicitly encouraged young women, refugees and forcibly displaced young people, and young people with disabilities to apply. Awards were subject to academic admission, eligibility and selection requirements. The opportunity covered specified undergraduate and master’s study routes and included compulsory personal, academic and professional development, community-engaged learning, leadership and entrepreneurship activities. [8]

A February 2025 report records the arrival of the programme’s third cohort and engagement between scholars, programme staff and the Foundation. Workshops, mentorship and academic support formed part of the approach alongside tuition support. The wider partnership committed to 500 comprehensive scholarships over seven years, split between undergraduate and master’s study. The Annual Report also records the programme’s first UWC graduates during the year. [9] [1, p. 31] [1, p. 32]

Financial and practical conditions for learning

UWC’s 2025 Annual Report describes financial support as part of enabling students to participate and succeed, alongside food-security initiatives and donor-supported assistance. It also records R1.6 million received early in 2025 by the student-led iKamvalethu Fund, which provides fee-clearance support for students who fall outside NSFAS eligibility. A subcommittee including student leadership oversees disbursement. [1, p. 15]

The same report recognises that delays in external student funding affected daily living conditions and academic participation. Support for Honours students through attraction and retention bursaries, practical assistance and student-led fundraising formed part of the institutional response. Together, these arrangements connect entry into university with the financial and practical conditions needed to remain engaged in study. [1, p. 15]

Supporting participation and academic confidence

Writing and academic literacies

The 2025 Post Registration Guide describes free Writing Centre consultations in which trained peer tutors help students develop, revise and refine their own work. Support includes individual and group discussions, with workshops on academic writing and referencing arranged with lecturers. This is a learning process that builds writing practices, rather than an editing service that replaces a student’s work. The guide also introduces iKamva as a platform for learning materials, self-study, reflection and assessment alongside face-to-face teaching. [10]

On 25 June 2025, UWC and University of Cape Town writing-centre staff met to compare practices. Their discussion covered student consultations, lecturer-requested workshops and the place of writing centres within institutional teaching structures. It also examined how generative AI changes the support students need. The participants emphasised developing students’ voice, critical thinking and ethical AI literacies. Participants also identified challenges in the integration and use of writing-centre services at UWC. [11]

Disability related academic support

UWC’s September 2025 account of disability inclusion describes the Office for Students with Disabilities providing reasonable academic accommodations and assistive technology. Its support includes converting academic materials into accessible formats and coordinating disability-related test and examination arrangements with departments. These services address practical barriers to learning for students registered at UWC. This practical support helps connect the principle of inclusion with everyday academic participation. [12]

Learning from student experience

A 2025 account of Abaashieyah Moses’s research examined how students experienced feedback during the COVID-19 lockdown period. It highlighted the value of timely, personal and understandable feedback and considered how written comments could be supplemented by voice notes. The article’s contribution is a discussion of lessons from earlier learning experiences, with implications for blended teaching and student support. [21]

African languages as resources for teaching and knowledge

A sustained conversation on isiXhosa and teacher education

The Centre for African Language Teaching convened a pre-conference webinar on 13 August and its inaugural conference on 16–17 October 2025. The theme centred on isiXhosa, teacher education and knowledge production. A later conference report records 72 webinar participants from different disciplines and professional backgrounds. Discussions linked curriculum development, research, supervision and digital tools with the role of African languages in education. The webinar and conference created a continuing forum for these discussions. [16]

The October conference brought educators, researchers and policy participants into dialogue on multilingual teaching, literacy, African knowledge systems and technology. The UWC opening address placed teacher preparation and investment in learning materials at the centre of the agenda, while acknowledging resource and staffing barriers. The retrospective describes how bilingual concept mapping and collaborative translation brought the discussion into practical teaching activities. [15] [16]

Connecting institutional capacity and classroom realities

UWC’s conference address located CALT alongside the Centre for Multilingualism and Diversities Research and the Research Chair in Forensic Linguistics and Multilingualism. It argued for teaching that responds to the languages learners use and the cultural settings in which knowledge is formed. The educational challenge identified was to develop the staff capacity, materials and institutional systems needed to make multilingualism work in practice. The conference’s government and European Union support formed part of this collaborative effort. [15]

An advertised route into Chinese language learning

UWC’s Confucius Institute advertised an online Chinese-language short course in July 2025, with its course document covering the July–November period. This adds a language-learning opportunity to the University’s wider provision beyond full qualifications.  [111]

Developing teaching practice and reviewing quality

Professional development for university teachers

The 2025 Towards Professionalisation of Learning and Teaching course was designed for new and developing lecturers, with selected sessions also available to experienced colleagues. Its published design combined year-long interactive workshops with a teaching e-portfolio. Topics included assessment, barriers to learning, graduate attributes, curriculum transformation, work-integrated learning, emerging technologies and socially just pedagogies. The course design assigned faculty teaching specialists to support the portfolio process, which asked participants to connect their teaching philosophy, students’ needs and reflection on practice. [14]

The course outline required evidence of teaching towards graduate attributes, engagement with a critical incident from practice and development of the scholarship of learning and teaching. The outline provided for a certificate on successful completion of the portfolio. The Annual Report separately records three UWC staff members receiving Teaching Advancement at University fellowships. [14] [1, p. 17]

Reviewing teaching modes and programme quality

In November 2025, Senate approved UWC’s self-evaluation report for the Council on Higher Education’s themed review of modes of learning and teaching provision. Twenty-three faculty and unit submissions informed the institutional account, covering learning spaces, staff and student readiness, academic integrity and support. The Annual Report also acknowledges the continuing demands of AI and investment in digital infrastructure. [1, p. 29]

Senate’s 2025 work included programme reviews and revised curriculum-subcommittee guidelines. The guidelines formalised consultation with Academic Planning and Quality Assurance and faculty-level scrutiny before institutional submission. The Pharmacy review was approved with infrastructure concerns requiring further attention, while the Clinical Psychology re-accreditation review was approved. These examples show quality assurance as a continuing process of review, decision-making and follow-through. [1, p. 29] [1, p. 30]

Using digital tools to support educational practice

Immersive learning in nursing and pharmacy

UWC’s 2025 reporting describes virtual-reality simulation within nursing education, developed through a relationship with the University of Missouri. The April account explains the use of simulated clinical situations in which students can engage with decision-making in a controlled environment. Earlier public reporting had described a feasibility study spanning 2024–2025 at the two institutions. The partnership therefore combines staff exchange and curriculum development with investigation of how the technology can be used in the respective teaching contexts. [17] [18]

The 2025 Annual Report also records a 360-degree virtual tour of Tygerberg Hospital’s sterile-compounding facility developed by the School of Pharmacy. Alongside the nursing work, this is a discipline-specific example of using digital media to help students encounter professional settings. The two developments connect digital design with specific professional-learning settings. [1, p. 19]

Building AI literacy

More than 50 AI-related workshops and consultations for staff, undergraduate and postgraduate students are recorded in the 2025 Annual Report. A self-paced AI Awareness module on iKamva addressed foundational knowledge, practical uses and ethical questions in teaching, research and administration. This work connected technical familiarity with responsible educational practice. The module formed part of UWC’s institutional learning environment. [1, p. 19]

The report also records campus digital-infrastructure developments, including additional wireless access points and expanded guest Wi-Fi. These form part of the infrastructure supporting learning and institutional activity. Reliable connectivity is part of the practical setting in which students and staff use digital learning resources. [1, p. 18]

The wider community digital-skills network

UWC's Western Cape CoLab participates in NEMISA's university-based digital-skills network. NEMISA's 2024/25 Annual Report identifies UWC as the Western Cape host and describes the provincial CoLabs' role in delivering digital-literacy training through local and provincial partnerships. This wider community-facing role provides context beyond the selective Future-Innovation Lab pathway already described in this account. [107, p. 20]

Student enterprise extending digital learning

WebMax, a student-founded enterprise emerging from Enactus UWC, connects digital-skills learning with practical support for small businesses. In its October 2025 account, Enactus South Africa reports that the enterprise had trained young people in web development and digital skills while helping local businesses establish an online presence. The account also highlights mentorship and connections to platforms including UWC’s Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation as part of the venture’s development. WebMax illustrates how university-linked student entrepreneurship can create learning opportunities beyond a degree programme. Its activities belong to a student-origin company, rather than a university-wide free-course service. [110]

Learning through biodiversity, conservation and creative practice

Community participation in biodiversity learning

UWC's Cape Flats Nature Reserve brought school learners, clubs and local communities into its annual biodiversity survey from 13 to 18 October 2025. The six-day activity welcomed 108 participants, including first-time visitors and returning contributors, to observe and photograph local plants and animals. Their contributions helped update the reserve's biodiversity records, connecting public participation with practical learning about threatened ecosystems and conservation. The initiative illustrates a recurring opportunity for community members to encounter a university-managed learning environment. [91]

Art and environmental education across institutional boundaries

The Nature Reserve Unit's partnership with the Zeitz MOCAA BMW Centre for Art Education connected environmental learning with creative practice. MOCAA Art Club learners visited the reserve in December 2024 and used disposable cameras to record their encounters with its biodiversity. Their photographs were shown alongside selected UWC student work at Zeitz MOCAA from May to June 2025. The exhibition extended the learning relationship beyond the reserve, presenting conservation through images produced by participants themselves. Further Art Club work announced for an exhibition opening in November 2025 responded to the reserve’s sonic ecology. [92] [94]

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Two visitors examine photographs displayed on a wall. Source context: UWC’s Cape Flats Nature Reserve Hosts its First Nature Photography Competition to Raise Biodiversity Awareness. Credit: Image: Supplied. Image source.

Learning in and with communities

Community organisations connect their work with development goals

UWC and Hugenote Kollege co-hosted a 2025 community-engagement workshop in Wellington. Participants from community-focused organisations began with reflection on their values and organisational purposes, then related their priorities to the Sustainable Development Goals, South Africa’s National Development Plan and Decadal Plan, and the African Union’s Agenda 2063. A practical exercise explored organisational challenges and opportunities for joint responses. The workshop created opportunities for learning, networking and discussion of shared resources, helping participants connect local work with broader development priorities. [73]

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Workshop participants arrange cards together around a table. Source context: Building Bridges Through Community Engagement: UWC and Hugenote Kollege Collaborate in Wellington. Credit: Image: Supplied. Image source.

Legal understanding for everyday decisions

UWC’s community education also reached ENSafrica’s Pro Bono offices in Mitchells Plain. In a workshop reported in May 2025, Dr Fatima Essop, a senior lecturer in Islamic Studies, explained the relationship between South African and Islamic family-law frameworks. Community activists, court officials and local religious leaders contributed experiences in breakout discussions. The activity brought university expertise into a community setting while allowing practical difficulties encountered by participants to inform further educational and advocacy work. [75]

Practical learning about municipal service reporting

On 23 May 2025, UWC’s Politics and Urban Governance Research Group co-hosted a workshop with the City of Cape Town and BM Section residents in Khayelitsha. Residents and officials examined barriers to reporting sanitation faults and shared possible improvements. City officials demonstrated digital and telephone reporting channels, while participants worked in groups to propose and assess alternatives. Building on earlier research, the workshop combined explanation of public-service systems with hands-on demonstration and reciprocal learning. It gave residents a setting in which to share practical knowledge, learn about available channels and contribute to proposed improvements. [76] [77]

Supporting learning through a student-led wellness partnership

The Faculty of Community and Health Sciences records a student-led phase during 2025 in its mothers’ support group at the Wellness Centre. Social work students initiated the group after needs emerged during interprofessional clinical supervision. The continuing initiative brings mothers caring for children with disabilities together for shared support and learning. Occupational therapy and social work colleagues contribute workshops and activities, while community NGO partnerships, including Autism Connect, help create opportunities for participation. The model connects community experience with student learning and interprofessional collaboration. [78]

Oral-health learning with educators and special-needs communities

UWC's Dentistry Faculty has combined outreach care with explicit educational work. Its July 2023 account describes the Special Needs Oral Care Programme, which included oral-health education for learners with special needs and their teaching assistants at GlenBridge Special School. A related partnership with Ikamva Labantu and Western Cape clinics used workshops for early-childhood-development principals and educators in Khayelitsha and Gugulethu, addressing personal oral care and ways to embed oral-health practices within ECD centres. The source describes an education project operating throughout the year, with an annual oral-health component. [106]

Public humanities, community arts and digital heritage

Opening liberation-history collections to new audiences

The UWC–Robben Island Museum Mayibuye Archives formed part of Unboxing Mayibuye: Access to Digital Heritage, a partnership between Robben Island Museum, the French National Audiovisual Institute and Agence Française de Développement. The project combined archival training and digitisation with new ways for the public to encounter liberation-history collections. Six young project assistants worked alongside permanent archivists during the 2023–2024 training and resourcing phase. The archive's own account identifies a website, virtual Apple Boxes, a Community Arts Project mini-documentary and a video mural at the Nelson Mandela Gateway among its 2025 public-access productions. These outputs connect preservation with learning beyond the archive reading room. [99] [100, p. 8]

Sustained arts education in rural communities

UWC’s Centre for Humanities Research has sustained a relationship with Net Vir Pret in Barrydale since 2010, with the Ukwanda Puppetry and Design Arts Collective contributing to the collaboration. The partnership connects creative practice, workshops and community performance through an annual giant-puppet programme. Its 2025 announcement invited the public to Steek My Weg at BFO Primary School on 14 December, continuing a longstanding rural arts-education relationship. The broader collaboration gives a different account of educational access: learning through making, performance and sustained relationships between artists, researchers and young people. [101] [102]

Practical learning through puppet making

The CHR’s arts-education collaboration with Boschendal reached its fourth year in 2024. Ahead of the Heritage Day parade on 24 September, children from Lanquedoc and Pniel took part in two days of puppet-making workshops facilitated by Net vir Pret. A separate workshop at the CHR’s Iyatsiba Lab in Woodstock involved Grade 7 learners from Nondzame Primary and Pniel Primary. The parade featured giant puppets created by Ukwanda and performed by Net vir Pret puppeteers. These activities connected rural learners, artists and university researchers through practical making, storytelling and performance, giving young participants a direct encounter with the creative processes behind the public event. [103]

Recurring film learning and public discussion

The Centre for Humanities Research and the Encounters South African International Documentary Film Festival advertised ENGAGE/REFLECT/CREATE as a monthly documentary-screening programme during 2025. Its September invitation paired Albie: A Strange Alchemy with speakers including the director and editor, at the Iyatsiba Lab in Woodstock. A November notice invited audiences to Milisuthando and described that screening as the final session. By inviting audiences to discuss films in a university-linked setting, the programme offered opportunities to explore historical memory, cultural interpretation and social questions. The invitations identify particular occasions within a recurring programme, complementing UWC’s individual lectures, public seminars and film events. [104] [105]

Extending educational partnerships across borders

Student-led educational guidance in Uganda

Two UWC master’s students worked with the Pilgrim Center for Reconciliation in Uganda in an outreach activity reported in June 2025. With support from staff of UWC’s Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program, they led a session for more than 50 young people, including participants affected by displacement. The session introduced higher-education opportunities and included application support, with a UWC postgraduate recruitment coordinator contributing online. The students brought perspectives from Forensic Linguistics and Child and Family Studies into a community partnership, connecting prospective applicants with information and practical guidance. [74]

Specialist teaching for Malawi’s dental school

In 2025, two UWC academics contributed specialist teaching at Kamuzu University of Health Sciences in Lilongwe, Malawi. Through the MalDent Project’s Flying Faculty Week, Professor Amir Afrogheh and Dr Anneze Odendaal supported the academic programme for third- and fourth-year dental students. The collaboration was coordinated with the University of Glasgow and included African-based academics in an international educational exchange. It is an example of UWC contributing disciplinary expertise to another institution’s teaching capacity. [118]

Regional cooperation on the conditions for learning

The 2024/2025 RISE report describes Professor Sulochini Pather’s leadership of the SADC Care and Support for Teaching and Learning Research Group. It brings together representatives from 16 member states with partners including MIET Africa, UNESCO, UNICEF and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. The approach connects education, health and social services within more inclusive support systems. The partnership provides a regional structure for research and cooperation on the circumstances that enable teachers and learners to participate meaningfully in education. [19, Printed p. 56]

Connecting education, rights and sustainability

Community leaders learn about children’s rights and climate change

UWC’s Dullah Omar Institute convened a conversational training workshop in 2025 for community leaders, religious leaders, early-childhood-development teachers and grassroots activists. Supported by SIDA through the African Children’s Rights Project, the campus-based event considered how climate pressures affect children and how adults can enable young people’s participation in local responses. The discussion connected rights, safe environments and early learning with the need for community-informed climate governance. [48]

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Community workshop participants sit at tables as a facilitator addresses the room. Source context: UWC Community Leaders Conversational Training Workshop on Children’s Rights and Climate Change. Credit: Image: Supplied. Image source.

Learning from local and Indigenous knowledge

Among its 2024 engagement activities, documented in the 2024/2025 RISE report, UWC records a Nelson Mandela University-led New Frontiers in Research Fund collaboration with institutions in Canada, the United Kingdom and Switzerland. The project links environmental learning in primary schools with food and water security, climate change and Indigenous Knowledge Systems. Dr Rubina Setlhare leads a Humansdorp strand bringing youth voices and First Nations knowledge into participatory learning and advisory structures. The collaboration connects local knowledge and school learning with an international research partnership. [19, p. 58]

Cooperation on digital and media literacy

In November 2025, UWC reported a working visit and roundtable hosted by its Research Chair in Media Inclusion and Diversity with Mediawijs, the Flemish knowledge centre for digital and media literacy. Partners included public broadcasters, academic researchers, media-governance bodies, UWC’s Faculty of Education and its CoLab. The programme included engagements with the SABC and Bush Radio and developed plans for future cooperation on digital inclusion and resilience to misinformation. These exchanges brought education, media and community perspectives into the development of shared projects. [84]

INSERT HERE – uwc-sdg4-media-literacy-roundtable-2025.jpg

Participants sit around a conference table during a roundtable discussion. Source context: UWC Chair In Media Inclusion And Diversity Hosts Roundtable To Fortify Global Digital And Media Literacy Cooperation. Credit: Image: Supplied. Image source.

Research that informs educational change

Knowledge systems and curriculum transformation

The RISE Annual Report 2024/2025 describes a multidisciplinary education-transformation project involving colleagues from law, education, health and governance. The group worked with educators, policymakers and Indigenous knowledge holders through participatory methods, including interviews, focus groups and engagement with community elders. Its concern was how curricula, assessment and institutional practices can recognise different ways of knowing. The report presents frameworks and guidelines arising from that work as contributions to the broader transformation agenda. [19, pp. 50–51]

A May 2025 UWC account also brought curriculum transformation into public academic discussion through a publication addressing knowledge generation, teaching and experiences of social justice in South African and Zimbabwean universities. This kind of scholarship places the substance of learning alongside questions of whose experience is recognised in a curriculum. The publication contributes to educational enquiry and debate about curriculum and knowledge. [22]

Learning through research collaboration

The 2024/2025 research report records Education collaborations with Dutch and Belgian partners on multilingual pedagogy, AI-supported teaching and immersive teacher preparation. It also explicitly records a 2025 Coding Summer School co-hosted with the Centre for High Performance Computing and the National Institute for Theoretical and Computational Sciences, involving 35 postgraduate students in data visualisation, simulation and machine learning. These examples connect educational research, international collaboration and specialist skills development, with the different activity periods retained. [19, pp. 24–25, 71–72]

Partnership development during 2025

Preparing sustained mentoring in Mitchell’s Plain

In October 2025, representatives of UWC’s Social Work programme, the CHS Mitchell’s Plain Wellness Centre and Cornflower Primary School met to establish a school partnership for the DREAMS mentoring initiative. The developing partnership connects the Department of Social Service Professions, Let Us Dream and local community leadership. Designed as a three-year mentoring cycle, it provides a foundation for a continuing relationship between university students, school learners, staff and community partners. [79]

Policies and frameworks supporting educational access and quality

The policy excerpts below show the source dates, scope, conditions and numbering of the cited documents. Their provisions concern registered students, staff or specified qualifications and programmes. Approval and implementation dates are identified separately.

Continuing education and its quality requirements

UWC’s published Policy for the Management of Continuing Education Courses, approved in June 2013, treats short learning opportunities as a way to share university expertise and respond to professional, social and development needs. It requires institutional approval, course descriptors, quality records, student feedback and periodic review. It also distinguishes credit-bearing courses leading to competence certification from non-credit-bearing attendance and professional-development offerings. These distinctions help learners understand what a particular short course provides. The policy recognises community-engagement provision, while its financial provisions make clear that continuing education is not universally free. [25, cover and §§2–9,11; PDF pp. 1,3–12]

The 2025 Annual Report also records Council approval of a Certification Policy. Section 11.1 of the continuing-education policy refers to the separate certification rules. The extract below reproduces the published 2013 policy. [1, printed p. 10]

Flexible learning designed around learners

The Flexible Learning and Teaching Provisioning Policy was implemented on 24 September 2021 and amended on 1 December 2022. Its scope explicitly includes full qualifications and short learning programmes. Section 2.2 recognises barriers associated with physical disability, gender, age, social class and race within the national open-learning context. Section 3 provides for working adults, international students and learners unable to attend full time, and identifies equitable digital access and disability support. Section 6 links accessible materials, student induction and learning support with staff development, technology and quality review. These provisions give a concrete basis for flexible provision, while retaining programme approval, connectivity and other practical conditions. [24, §§1,3,6; PDF pp. 3–9]

A clear operational route for recognition of prior learning

A communiqué issued by the Office of the Deputy Registrar on 16 March 2025 sets out how UWC’s RPL processes operate. It identifies undergraduate access through the Portfolio Development Hybrid Programme, postgraduate dual assessment, and faculty or department involvement in credit-related assessment. All undergraduate and postgraduate RPL applications must pass through the RPL Unit. For postgraduate admission, the relevant faculty template is submitted to Quality Assurance only after the prescribed RPL process, accompanied by confirmation from the Unit. The communiqué also explains how disputed outcomes are handled and connects unresolved grievances to the admissions appeals process. These requirements turn a commitment to recognising experience into an organised, quality-assured access pathway. [90, pp. 1–2]

Recognising previous study while protecting qualification standards

The Credit Accumulation and Transfer Policy was approved on 1 December 2022 and implemented the following day. It supports mobility and articulation between undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications through comparability checks, assessment requirements and limits on transferred credits. Short learning programmes are excluded from its CAT regulation. A separate provision, section 5, permits RPL-based exemption that can take short-course learning into account where content, duration and assessment are at least equivalent to the relevant modules. Exemption is recorded as such, is subject to Senate’s assessment procedures and excludes exit-level modules from the permitted 50% exemption. A completed short course therefore does not automatically confer degree admission or transferable degree credit. [26, §§2–5; PDF pp. 5–6]

Learning materials and open educational resources

The Learning Materials Policy records implementation from 25 November 2021. Its scope includes accredited programmes and short courses across face-to-face, blended, online, distance and block formats. It calls for materials responsive to diverse learning needs, alignment between outcomes and assessment, and regular evaluation using peer review and student feedback. Section A.5 encourages lecturers, with Library support, to adopt, adapt and create open educational resources. This gives institutional context to the openly accessible teaching materials offered by particular UWC units, while each resource retains its own access and reuse conditions. [27, §A.5 and §§B–C; PDF pp. 3–6]

Admission and inclusion in the 2025 academic year

The 2025 General Calendar set out the admission and alternative-entry arrangements applying to that academic year. Its values statement commits UWC to inclusion and rejects discrimination, including on the grounds of race, sexual orientation and religion and through xenophobia. These institutional commitments sit alongside specific RPL and disability-support mechanisms. A revised Admission Policy was then approved on 2 October 2025 for implementation in 2026. The revised text sets out equity, transparency, diversity and RPL pathways, together with formal selection and appeal processes. The approval is a 2025 governance development; the implementation date remains 2026. [2, pp. 3,44–49] [7, cover; sections 4, 6.3 and 7]

Curriculum transformation and engaged scholarship

The DVC Academic Reflective Report records approval of the Curriculum Transformation and Renewal Framework in November 2021 and the Framework for Scholarship of Engagement for Societal Impact in 2022. These frameworks connect curriculum, research and engagement with societal questions and partnerships. In October 2025, the Rector’s address to a scholarship-of-engagement colloquium described continuing work to embed engagement in institutional systems, with community and international partners contributing. The sequence shows a policy and capacity-development agenda sustained over several years, alongside the specific community-learning activities documented for 2025. [28, pp. 8,25,194–195] [29, PDF pp. 1–3]

Shared responsibility for postgraduate learning

UWC’s Postgraduate Policy on Masters and Doctoral Studies, approved and effective in July 2020, sets an institutional basis for jointly owned doctoral programmes with accredited international partners. Section 3.3 provides for registration at both institutions and a single co-branded award. This framework supports shared supervision and research learning while retaining clear responsibility for the programme and qualification. It provides a governance basis for UWC’s international doctoral partnerships. [30, §3.3; PDF p. 4]

Teaching and learning as an inclusive academic project

UWC’s 2006 Teaching and Learning Policy frames programmes and shorter courses around academic quality, access and equity. Its preamble addresses learners’ diverse cultural and social experiences and the effects of unequal schooling and resources. Its principles promote lifelong learning, responsiveness to disability and academic support. This remains a dated foundation rather than an isolated statement of every later academic rule: the Learning Materials Policy expressly describes itself as an addendum, records the 2006 Senate and Council approvals, and supplies more specific requirements for learning resources. The 2025 Calendar and other policies below provide the year-specific or subject-specific provisions relevant to this account. [85, pp. 175–182][27, Background; PDF p. 3]

The 2017-amended Moderation Policy requires scrutiny of draft assessments for clarity, fairness and alignment with module outcomes. It covers undergraduate, Honours, postgraduate diploma and certificate programmes, and papers in structured master’s programmes; thesis moderation is governed separately. The 2026 Assessment and Moderation Policy expressly repeals this predecessor from its implementation on 25 June 2026. The later policy is identified for lineage purposes and its revised provisions are not backdated to 2025. [113] [115, cover]

Language policy and academic participation

The Language Policy reproduced in UWC’s 2025 General Calendar recognises the University’s multilingual context. It encourages competent lecturers to use additional languages where this supports communication and discussion, and seeks multilingual tutoring and academic-literacy support. It also provides for Afrikaans, English and isiXhosa in institutional communication, subject to the conditions set out in the policy. These commitments give a policy context to multilingual teaching and the CALT activities, while recognising that language practice depends on approved teaching arrangements, available expertise and practical implementation. [86, pp. 1–2] [2, pp. 57–58]

A framework for educational financial support

UWC’s published Financial Aid Policy connects funding with equitable access and academic progress. The version amended in November 2015 covers several university-administered forms of assistance and identifies governance responsibilities, eligibility and an appeals process. It recognises both resource constraints and the need to support promising students facing financial barriers. NSFAS funding falls under a separate framework. The specific bursaries, donor support and student-led funding recorded in the 2025 Annual Report show the financial and practical support provided during the year. [87, cover and §§2,4–8; PDF pp. 1,4–8] [1, p. 15]

Sharing research through open access

UWC’s Open Access Publications Policy, amended in November 2019, describes responsibilities for depositing scholarly output and choosing open publishing routes, subject to publisher agreements and other applicable conditions. It covers staff, postgraduate students, postdoctoral fellows and other UWC-affiliated authors. The 2025 Annual Report subsequently records Council approval of a Library Services Open Access Policy. The excerpt below reproduces the 2019 version. The repositories and openly shared teaching materials described above provide separate evidence of public knowledge resources. [88, §§2–5] [1, printed p. 10]

Wellbeing within the learning environment

The Integrated Student Mental Health and Wellness Policy was approved in June 2021 and implemented on 1 July that year. It provides an institutional framework for a coordinated response to student wellbeing. Its place within the quality-education account is the recognition that the conditions for learning include support beyond the classroom. The 2025 Annual Report describes health-awareness and wellness activity and practical student assistance alongside academic work, connecting that broader institutional commitment with specific activity during the year. [89, cover] [1, pp. 14–15] [89, §5.2 and §8; PDF pp. 9, 12–14]

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