Commonly known as Wits University or just Wits, the University Of Witwatersrand is a multi-campus public research university in South Africa that is distinguished internationally for its excellent research, high academic standards, and commitment to social justice. A nod to this is the fact that a number of university ranking bodies have in the past placed it as the highest-ranked university in South Africa and Africa as a whole.
Situated in Johannesburg, the institution uses its strategic placement in the economic and industrial heartland of the African continent to interact with both the public and private sectors, civil society, and other social agents to effect much-needed meaningful change in society. It boasts of having produced more millionaires than any other university in the country.
How To Apply Online
Applications to the University of Witwatersrand can be easily done online. Prospective students can do so by visiting the university website – https://www.wits.ac.za/ or using this link Wits University Online Application to access and fill the form. The status of the application can further be checked on the Wits Online Application page.
NB: You can either download the form from the website or fill it online. Some courses offered by the school, however, only require an online application.
Proceed to the “Create New Application” option on the website of the school and provide information like your bio-data, RSA ID, marital status, and cell number among other things. If you had already started an application, you can always continue from where you stopped.
Wits University Admission Requirements
The University of Witwatersrand offers admission into a wide range of programs at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Each course at both levels in the university has its own specific admission requirements in addition to the general requirements that include a school-leaving qualification (The National Senior Certificate, Foreign School-Leaving Qualification, The National Certificate) and an Admission Point Score (APS)
Specific requirements for admission into Wits University can be found in the admission section of the school’s website – https://www.wits.ac.za/study-at-wits/.
See Also:Â Check Out The Top Performing Schools In Western Cape
Courses Available at the University of Witwatersrand
The University of Witwatersrand offers over 3,600 courses that are spread across its five faculties.
1. The Faculty of Commerce, Law, and Management: This offers various undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in accountancy, economics, management, and law.
2. Engineering and the Built Environment: This faculty is made up of 7 schools; Architecture & Planning, Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, Civil & Environmental Engineering, Construction Economics & Management, Electrical & Information Engineering, Mechanical, Industrial & Aeronautical Engineering, and Mining Engineering.
3. The Faculty of Health Sciences: This faculty offers undergraduate degrees in medicine, dentistry, nursing, medical and health sciences, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, and pharmacy. There is also a graduate entry medical program, master’s courses (science and medicine), and a Ph.D. program.
4. The Faculty of Humanities: This faculty is made up of schools of Social Sciences, Arts, Literature and Language Studies, Human and Community Development, and Education.
5. The Faculty of Sciences: This faculty is made up of schools of Mathematics; Chemistry; Physics; Statistics and Actuarial Science and School of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics; Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences; Molecular and Cell Biology; Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies; and Geosciences.
Below are The Courses Available or Offered By The Schools Listed Above
Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management
- Honours in Accountancy
- Honours in Accounting Science
- Honours in Applied Development Economics
- Honours in Economic Science
- Honours in Economics
- Honours in Finance
- Honours in Human Resource Management
- Honours in Information Systems
- Honours in Insurance & Risk Management
- Honours in Management
- Honours in Marketing
- LLM Commercial and Business Law
- LLM Corporate Law
- LLM Environmental Law
- LLM General
- LLM Human Rights Advocacy and Litigation
- LLM International Economic Law
- LLM International Law
- LLM Labour Law
- LLM Master of Laws
- LLM Pensions Law
- Master of Commerce
- Master of Commerce in Accounting
- Master of Commerce in Health Economics
- Master of Commerce in Information Systems
- Master of Commerce in Taxation
- Master of Economic Science
- Master of Laws in Information and Communications Law
- Master of Laws in International Law
- Master of Laws in Tax Law
- Masters in Applied Development Economics
- Masters of Commerce in Economics
- Masters of Commerce in Finance
- PhD in Accountancy
- PhD in Business Sciences
- PhD in Economics and Finance
- PhD in Law
- Postgraduate Diploma in Accountancy
- Postgraduate Diploma in Law
- Postgraduate Diploma in Specialised Accountancy
- Postgraduate Diploma in Taxation
Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment
- Bachelor of Architectural Studies with Honours
- BSc with Honours in Construction Management
- BSc with Honours in Quantity Surveying
- Master of Architecture (Professional)
- Master of Engineering in Civil Engineering
- Masters of Architecture by research
- MSc (Eng) in Chemical Engineering
- MSc Engineering
- MSc in Electrical Engineering
- PhD in Chemical Engineering
- PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering
- PhD in Electrical Engineering
Faculty of Health Sciences
- Bachelor of Clinical Medical Practice Honours
- Bachelor of Clinical Medical Practice with Honours in Emergency Medicine
- Bachelor of Health Sciences with Honours in Biokinetics
- Bachelor of Health Sciences with Honours in Forensic Sciences
- Bachelor of Health Sciences with Honours in Human Biology
- Bachelor of Health Sciences with Honours in Medical Cell Biology
- Bachelor of Health Sciences with Honours in Molecular Medicine
- Bachelor of Health Sciences with Honours in Pharmacology
- Bachelor of Health Sciences with Honours in Physiology
- Clinical Medical Practice Honours
- Diploma in Advanced Nursing
- Master of Dentistry
- Master of Medicine
- Master of Pharmacy
- Master of Public Health
- Master of Science in Dentistry
- Master of Science in Epidemiology
- Master of Science in Medicine
- Master of Science in Medicine (Research)
- Master of Science in Medicine in Bioethics and Health Law
- Master of Science in Nursing
- Master of Science in Nursing (Research)
- Master of Science in Occupational Therapy
- Master of Science in Occupational Therapy (Research)
- Master of Science in Physiotherapy
- Masters in Health Science Education
- PhD Doctor of Philosophy in Health Sciences
- Postgraduate Diploma in Child Health
- Postgraduate Diploma in Occupational Therapy
Faculty of Humanities
- BA (Honours) – African Languages and Linguistics
- BA (Honours) – African Literature
- BA (Honours) – Anthropology
- BA (Honours) – Applied Drama: Theatre in Education, Communities and Social Contexts
- BA (Honours) – Archaeology
- BA (Honours) – Arts, Culture and Heritage Management
- BA (Honours) – Bachelor of Arts Honours
- BA (Honours) – Creative Writing
- BA (Honours) – Critical Diversity Studies
- BA (Honours) – Demography and Population Studies
- BA (Honours) – Development Studies
- BA (Honours) – Digital Arts
- BA (Honours) – Drama and Film
- BA (Honours) – Drama Therapy
- BA (Honours) – English
- BA (Honours) – Film and Television
- BA (Honours) – Fine Art
- BA (Honours) – French Language and Literature
- BA (Honours) – Geography
- BA (Honours) – German Language and Literature
- BA (Honours) – Heritage Studies
- BA (Honours) – History
- BA (Honours) – History of Art
- BA (Honours) – International Relations
- BA (Honours) – Italian Studies
- BA (Honours) – Joint Honours
- BA (Honours) – Journalism and Media Studies
- BA (Honours) – Labour Policy and Globalisation
- BA (Honours) – Linguistics
- BA (Honours) – Media Studies
- BA (Honours) – Migration Studies
- BA (Honours) – Music
- BA (Honours) – Organisational and Institutional Studies
- BA (Honours) – Organisational Psychology
- BA (Honours) – Philosophy
- BA (Honours) – Political Studies
- BA (Honours) – Portuguese studies
- BA (Honours) – Psychology
- BA (Honours) – Publishing Studies
- BA (Honours) – Sociology
- BA (Honours) – South African Sign Language
- BA (Honours) – Spanish
- BA (Honours) – Translation or Interpreting
- BA (Honours) – Transnational Literary and Cultural Studies
- BEd (Honours) – Deaf Studies
- BEd (Honours) – Education
- DLitt – Doctor of Literature
- MAÂ – Creative Writing
- MAÂ – Critical Diversity Studies
- MAÂ – Cultural Policy and Management
- MAÂ – Master of Arts
- MAÂ – Organisational and Institutional Studies
- MA – African Literature
- MA – Anthropology
- MA – Applied Drama: Theatre in Education, Communities & Social Contexts
- MA – Applied Ethics for Professionals
- MAÂ – Applied Linguistics
- MA – Archaeology
- MA – Audiology
- MA – Clinical Psychology
- MA – Community-based Counselling
- MAÂ – Demography and Population Studies
- MAÂ – Development Sociology
- MAÂ – Development Studies
- MAÂ – Digital Arts
- MA – Drama Therapy
- MA – Dramatic Art
- MAÂ – e-Science
- MAÂ – Film and Television
- MA – Fine Arts
- MA – French and Francophone Studies
- MAÂ – Geography
- MA – German Studies
- MA – Health Demography
- MA – Heritage
- MA – History
- MA – History of Art
- MAÂ – ICT and Policy Regulation
- MA – Industrial Sociology
- MAÂ – Interactive Media
- MA – International Relations
- MAÂ – Italian Studies
- MA – Journalism and Media Studies
- MAÂ – Labour Policy and Globalisation
- MA – Linguistics
- MA – Media Studies
- MA – Migration and Displacement
- MA – Organisational Psychology
- MA – Philosophy
- MA – Political Studies
- MA – Psychology
- MA – Publishing Studies
- MA – Social Work
- MA – Sociology
- MA – Speech-Language Pathology
- MA – Translation
- MAÂ – Transnational Literary and Cultural Studies
- MEd – Deaf Education
- MEd – Education and Works
- MEd – Educational Psychology
- MEd – The Master of Education
- MMus – Master of Music
- PGCE – Education
- PGDA – Applied Drama and Theatre
- PGDip – Arts
- PGDip – Deaf Education
- PGDip – Translation and Interpreting
- PGDipE(HE) – Postgraduate Diploma in Education (Higher Education)
- PhD – Creative Writing
- PhD – Critical Diversity Studies
- PhD – Deaf studies
- PhD – Demography and Population Studies
- PhD – Doctor of Philosophy
- PhD – Doctor of Philosophy Education
- PhD – Film and Television
- PhD – Media Studies
- PhD – Migration and Displacement
Faculty of Science
- BSc with Honours in Actuarial Science
- BSc with Honours in Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences
- BSc with Honours in Applied Bioinformatics
- BSc with Honours in Archaeology
- BSc with Honours in Big Data Analytics
- BSc with Honours in Biochemistry and Cell Biology
- BSc with Honours in Chemistry
- BSc with Honours in Computational and Applied Mathematics
- BSc with Honours in Computer Science
- BSc with Honours in Genetics and Developmental Biology
- BSc with Honours in Geochemistry
- BSc with Honours in Geography
- BSc with Honours in Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies
- BSc with Honours in Geology
- BSc with Honours in Geophysics
- BSc with Honours in Mathematical Sciences
- BSc with Honours in Mathematical Statistics
- BSc with Honours in Mathematics
- BSc with Honours in Microbiology and Biotechnology
- BSc with Honours in Palaeontology
- BSc with Honours in Physics
- BSc with Honours in Psychology
- MSc in Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences
- MSc in Archaeological Heritage Management
- MSc in Artificial Intelligence
- MSc in Astrophysics
- MSc in Chemistry
- MSc in Computational and Applied Mathematics
- MSc in Computational and Applied Mathematics
- MSc in Computer Science
- MSc in Computer Science
- MSc in Data Science
- MSc in e-Science
- MSc in Economic Geology
- MSc in Environmental Sciences
- MSc in Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing
- MSc in Geosciences
- MSc in Hydrogeology
- MSc in Interdisciplinary Global Change Studies
- MSc in Mathematical Sciences
- MSc in Mathematical Statistics
- MSc in Mathematical Statistics
- MSc in Mathematics
- MSc in Mathematics
- MSc in Medical Physics
- MSc in Molecular and Cell Biology
- MSc in Palaeontology and Geology
- MSc in Physics
- MSc in Radiation Protection
- MSc in Resource Conservation Biology
- MSc in Robotics
- PhD in Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences
- PhD in Chemistry
- PhD in Computational and Applied Mathematics
- PhD in Computer Science
- PhD in Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies
- PhD in Geosciences
- PhD in Mathematical Statistics
- PhD in Mathematics
- PhD in Molecular and Cell Biology
- PhD in Physics
- PhD in Science
- Postgraduate Diploma in Science in the field of Enterprise Risk Management
- Postgraduate Diploma in Science in the field of Radiation Protection
Wits Business School
- Master of Business Administration
- Master of Management in Entrepreneurship and New Venture Creation
- Master of Management in Finance and Investment Management
- Master of Management in the fields of Strategic Marketing, Business and Executive Coaching, Innovation Studies, Digital Business and Energy Leadership
- PhD in Management
- Postgraduate Diploma in Management in the field of Digital Business
For more details, visit the following link – https://www.wits.ac.za/faculties-and-schools/
History of the University Of Witwatersrand
Founded in 1896 in Kimberely, Northern Cape Province, South Africa the University Of Witwatersrand began as the South African School of Mines. By 1904, the institution changed its name to Transvaal Technical Institute and moved to Johannesburg, its present location. Two years later, the institution underwent another name change, this time to Transvaal University College. A new campus was subsequently established in Pretoria in 1908 although the two campuses in the two cities later separated to become separate institutions in 1910.
The Johannesburg campus reincorporated itself as the South African School of Mines and Technology while its Pretoria counterpart held on to be called the Transvaal University College. This name remained until 1930 when it became known as the University of Pretoria. The South African School of Mines and Technology, on the other hand, changed its name to the University College, Johannesburg in 1920.
In 1922, the University College, Johannesburg was granted full university status after being incorporated as what it’s now known today as, the University of the Witwatersrand. At this time, the institution had six faculties, thirty-seven departments, seventy-three academic staff, and approximately one thousand students. From that time onwards, the number of students enrolled in the school has continued to increase, from about six thousand students in 1963 to over sixteen thousand by 1985.
As of 2018, the University of Witswatersrand has five faculties: Commerce, Law and Management, Engineering and the Built Environment, Health Sciences, Humanities, and Science, with over forty thousand students enrolled in the school. About 63% of that population is studying for an undergraduate degree while 35% are working towards their postgraduate degree. The remaining 2% are Occasional Students.
