• General Orientation & Registration information

Where do I find the information I need?

All formal communication with students and prospective students will be done via your UCT student email. Please monitor your UCT email and keep a careful eye out for all key information on registration, orientation, course details, university matters pertinent to students, and other logistics with reference to your responsibilities as a UCT student.

Orientation and Registration Information

NB: Please ensure you have the correct registration deadlines diarised as late registration will attract a penalty fee of R2 000.

  • LLB Orientation & Registration information

See below on this page.

ALL LLB REGISTRATION QUERIES must be emailed to lawreg-ug@uct.ac.za - those sending queries to any other email address will experience a delay in getting a response.

  • Postgraduate Orientation & Registration information

All the information you need for postgraduate orientation & registration (PGDip, LLM, MPhil and higher degrees by research only) is on the School for Advanced Legal Studies website, the information portal for all things "postgraduate" at UCT Law. 

ALL POSTGRADUATE REGISTRATION QUERIES must be emailed to lawreg-pg@uct.ac.za – those sending queries to any other email address will experience a delay in getting a response.

  • LLB Orientation for 2023

Download the full LLB Orientation Programme.

Please keep checking back for programme details, venues and times as these may change. 

The University of Cape Town runs an intensive orientation programme for its LLB students, particularly (but not only) for first years. Orientation for all Law Students  is designed to ensure you receive all the information you need to navigate student life. The Orientation programme will provide information about your campus; the available facilities for students including library, IT support and student wellness services; your Faculty and who is who; and the multitude of opportunities available to students through law students societies, sports clubs and other general UCT student societies.

The Orientation programme for your level will emphasise the skills that you need to learn successfully, and includes a multi-day academic orientation programme that will equip students with the information that is key to excelling in higher education and ensuring your best chance of successfully completing your LLB. 

Graduate LLB students (3-year programme) are offered a condensed version of the academic preparedness programme, in conjunction with a short introductory session titled Introduction to South African Law. It is hugely beneficial for graduate students to complete this programme as it prepares them for their core courses as determined by the curriculum.

Orientation Leaders are an important part of these activities, and are appointed to assist first-year students as they navigate their way onto campus and into the LLB programme. All first-year law students will be assigned a mentor who is a senior law student for the entire first year of studies.

The LLB Orientation Programme offers, amongst other things:

  1. an introduction to your Law Students Council (the LSC) - and you can get to know who your representatives are and how they can assist and support you (and vice versa!)
  2. an introduction to key staff in the Faculty of Law, including the Dean and the relevant teaching staff
  3. guidance with your course choices and the registration process
  4. insight into the LLB programme stream for which you are registered (4-year, graduate 2-year LLB or graduate 3-year LLB)
  5. spotlights on different careers in Law, and the broad range of options open to LLB graduates (#LawIsNotJustForLawyers)
  6. how to use the Law Library
  7. how to access the UCT IT networks and the computer labs - and support with IT skills
  8. the importance for first-year students of the Law Mentoring programme run by the Law Students Council.
  9. and more!

Orientation for LLB students is compulsory for all students coming into the Faculty. Don’t miss this opportunity – it’s the lifeline that will introduce the first-year class and students new to UCT to the campus, the life of the University and how things work in the Faculty of Law.

  • Registration for returning LLB students for 2023

Please take note of the details, dates and deadlines.

All returning students’ registration will be activated on PeopleSoft for registration on 6 January 2023 (except for those with supplementary and deferred exams). Students will need to log into their PeopleSoft student portal to access the registration link.

23 January 2023 – 30 January 2023: (no academic advisors available)

This registration period is for self-service registration and is open to all returning students who do not require a student advisor for guidance on course load and curriculum. There are no advisors for this period of registration, so only Prelim B students (4-yr LLB) and returning Intermediate and Final Year students may use this self-service option.

30 January 2023 – 6 February 2023: (advisors available)

Prelim, Intermediate, and Final year students, and students transferring from other faculties who need academic advisors will need to register during this period, when the advisors are available for consultations. This includes students coded FECR, and those who wrote supplementary and deferred exams.

  • Registration for new students (4-year, 3-year and 2-year LLB programmes)

Students new to the Law Faculty will need to register for your LLB programme during Orientation Week on 8 – 9 February 2023.
Check for up-to-date information on the main UCT website to confirm final dates. If you need academic advice on courses, or are looking for other academic-related information, you can head to the Student Advisors page to book an Academic Assist session. This is the same place you will link to if you select the ACADEMIC ASSIST button on your Peoplesoft registration page.

  • Electives

Download the Humanities Course list for 4-year LLB students. This list should be consulted carefully so that you have full information on the non-law course options that are available to you during your degree. Check in here to ensure you have an up-to-date list from which to identify your preferred course choice.

As you are aware you are required to take language courses as part of the undergraduate (4-year) LLB degree curriculum. Please check what the teaching arrangements are in Humanities with regard to covid conditions, as these may differ from the Law Faculty’s arrangements.

  • Concession Applications

If you would like to apply for a concession please complete the appropriate form LAW 02 (available for download from the UCT Administrative Forms site) and submit it to the Deputy Dean with a copy of your academic record – deadlines apply so please check your email for details, or check back here for updates. (A concession includes any departure from the standard curriculum prescribed for any particular level of the LLB).

  • Laptop Requirements

All students entering first-year law studies at UCT are required to have a laptop for use during class as well as for personal study and access to online materials throughout the degree. The specifications for these laptops have been set so that they enable you to manage the demands of digital literacy expected in the senior years of the LLB degree. The basic requirements to operate on the UCT network are:

  • Intel Core i3 (or i5 if budget allows)

  • 4 GB RAM (8 GB if budget allows – the advice is that more RAM & i3 is better than less RAM & i5)

  • Go for the longest battery life that you can afford. For maximum advantage, machines with solid state drives (SSD) have much longer battery life than machines with mechanical parts (e.g. disk drives and DVD drives) and also weigh less, which is quite an advantage when carrying bags around campus).

  • IEEE 802.11 wireless

  • Windows OS (UCT has moved to the Windows 10 environment)

Apple Mac users running MacOS will have to get virtual desktop software, and UCT’s ICTS department can advise on this.

Further details of the laptop specifications and Information Technology facilities offered by UCT are available at: http://www.icts.uct.ac.za/student-computing – please ensure you are familiar with these requirements.

The use of laptops is intended to promote paperless teaching in the interests of a greener, more sustainable environment - and to equip you with the skills to access cases and readings online; to enable you to access UCT learning systems to download information and course materials; as well as to use UCT's anti-plagiarism software, amongst other skills.

These career-related skills are a critical skills component for every UCT graduate.

First-year students receiving financial aid from NSFAS or UCT will be assisted with laptops. 

NSFAS and Financial Aid students will be provided with further information directly but must note that they will have to attend the First Year Reception on campus to collect their laptops.