2026 Summer School dates: 19 -31 January 2026 : booking now open
Step into a world of ideas, inspiration, and discovery at the 2026 Summer School – where minds of all ages come together to explore, learn, and grow. Whether you’re a lifelong learner, a curious newcomer, or a returning participant, we’re thrilled to welcome you to two enriching weeks on campus filled with stimulating courses, thought-provoking lectures, and engaging events.
Hot Topics in Neuroscience for 2026
Why empathy is breaking healthcare: The neuroscience of compassion
Adolescent mental health: a better understanding
Traumatic stress across generations: epigenetic insights
Why does that hurt?
How can I find the right person for persistant pain? Navigating the health care system in South Africa
Upcoming book launches at the 2026 Summer School
The truth about Cape slavery: Challenging historical distortions
In conversation: Parcel baby: aliases, apartheid and neurosurgery
Glowfly dance: a powerful and haunting account of intimate partner violence as witnessed through the eyes of a young girl.
Cape Town writers at Summer School
Highlights of the 2025 Summer School
Upcoming Events
Upcoming Courses and excursions
Cederberg rock art excursion
Advanced copy-editing by JOHN LINNEGAR
Creative Writing
Geology Field Excursions
Copy editing and proofreading examinable texts by John Linnegar
Upcoming Courses
Belgravia High at the 2025 Summer School
Upcoming EMS courses and lectures April 2025
Copy-editing and proofreading by John Linnegar 24 April - 15 May
Visit to the 108-year-old tall ship, Oosterschelde 24 April
The Italian Renaissance: the dawn of modern times by Elizabeth Handley 16 April
Running Africa by Keith Boyd 9 April
Upcoming EMS Courses, lectures and webinars
World-renowned South Africans to speak at the 2025 Summer School
UCT Authors at 2025 Summer School
Upcoming Events
Welcome to the Centre for Extra-Mural Studies. Our extra-mural education programme is about educational and intellectual activities that enrich the mind. The aim is to stimulate the mind in areas which traditionally is left out of adult formal education. UCT’s Summer School is precisely such a programme. It contributes to the development of an informed citizenry and a culture of democracy. Summer School is a festival of knowledge and ideas where members of the general public experience what it means to be a student of the Universe in the broad sense of the word. In this way our work contributes directly to the university’s obligations to society, one of which is to stimulate critical debate and discussion.
But we also offer, for those who need a more skills or vocationally based course, practical courses in art, language and writing. For more information visit our short course page. Some of us are also challenged by a fast-changing digital world. We also host regular talks on new developments in technology such as Artificial Intelligence, machine learning and coding.
Highlights from the 2024 Summer School
Robert and Clara Schumann: Very Private Lives
100 years of radio: Indelible lessons from the airwaves
‘The secret communications network that helped end apartheid’
‘Humanity is at a crossroads’
Bringing the looters to justice: the case for an international anti-corruption court
Belgravia High at the 2025 Summer School
Seventeen Grade 11 and 12 learners from Belgravia High School in Belgravia, Athlone attended selected courses at the 2025 UCT Summer School. It was their first visit to UCT.The learners chose the following lectures on AI, Carbon dioxide, the Challenges of Economic Development and Climate Crises and Opportunities in South Africa.