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RADE

UCT Student Admissions Data 2015-2025

South Africa, 2015 - 2025
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Reference ID
zaf-uctsad-2015-2025-v1
DOI
https://doi.org/10.25828/db3e-m705
Producer(s)
Admissions Office
Collections
Remote Access Data Enclave
Metadata
DDI/XML JSON
Created on
Jun 03, 2026
Last modified
Jun 16, 2026
Page views
33578
Downloads
361
  • Identification
  • Version
  • Scope
  • Coverage
  • Producers and sponsors
  • Study authorization
  • Data collection
  • Data processing
  • Quality standards
  • Access policy
  • access_policy
  • Contacts
  • Metadata production
  • Citation

    • Identification

    Survey ID number
    zaf-uctsad-2015-2025-v1
    Title
    UCT Student Admissions Data 2015-2025
    Abbreviation or Acronym
    UCTSAD 2015-2025
    Country
    Name Country code
    South Africa zaf
    Study type
    UCT Student Admissions Data
    Series Information
    The UCTSAD series provides annual administrative microdata on applications submitted to the University of Cape Town. This dataset covers application cohorts from 2015 to 2025.
    Other identifiers
    Type Identifier
    doi https://doi.org/10.25828/db3e-m705
    Abstract
    The UCT Student Admissions Data (UCTSAD) 2015-2025 dataset records all applications submitted to the University of Cape Town (UCT) that belong to the 2015 to 2025 student application cohort. UCT's Information and Communication Technology Services (ICTS) extracted the source data from the UCT student administration SQL database and made it available to DataFirst for curation and dissemination. The dataset comprises four files for the 2015-2025 cohort: an application-form file recording every stage of every application process; a person file recording biographical and demographic characteristics of each applicant; a secondary-school-subject file recording the school subjects and results that applicants reported on their applications; and a tertiary-education file recording any prior tertiary study that applicants declared.
    Kind of Data
    Administrative records
    Unit of Analysis
    Student application

    Version

    Version Description
    v1.1: Edited data, for use in DataFirst's secure Remote Access Data Enclave
    Version Date
    2026-06-01
    Version Notes
    This is version 1.1 of the cleaned annualised files for the 2015 to 2025 UCT application cohort.

    Scope

    Keywords
    university applications student admissions higher education secondary school subjects prior tertiary education administrative records South Africa University of Cape Town

    Coverage

    Geographic Coverage notes
    The dataset covers only applications submitted to the University of Cape Town. Geographic variables within the dataset, such as home address, reflect applicants' self-reported information and are not independently verified.
    Universe
    All persons who submitted an application to the University of Cape Town and whose earliest application-process date falls in the calendar years 2015 to 2025.

    Producers and sponsors

    Primary investigators
    Name Affiliation
    Admissions Office University of Cape Town

    Study authorization

    Authorization Date
    2014
    Agency
    Agency name Affiliation Abbreviation
    Admissions Office University of Cape Town UCT
    Authorization Statement
    Permissions were granted to DataFirst to make UCT Student Admissions Data available to accredited researchers through our secure data service in 2014 and 2019. Permissions to share the data in the secure Remote Access Data Enclave was granted by the Admissions Office on the 25th November 2024.

    Data collection

    Dates of Data Collection
    Start End
    2015 2025
    Time Method
    Cross-section [cross section]
    Data Collectors
    Name Affiliation
    UCT Admissions Office University of Cape Town

    Data processing

    Data Processing
    Type Description
    Derivation The annual cleaning R script assigns application process identifier by scanning application rows in chronological order within each person-and-application group. A new process begins when the application program action equals 6, 9, 4, or 14; the process ends at the first row whose application end effective date equals 9999-12-31.
    Derivation The annual cleaning script derives the application year as the four-digit calendar year of the minimum application begin effective date within each combination of person identifier and application process identifier This variable identifies each application process as belonging to a specific annual cohort.
    Correction Named anomaly corrections adjust the application year for specific records where the algorithmically derived year does not match the intended application cohort. Each correction carries an explanatory comment in the R cleaning script.
    Linkage Person, secondary-school-subject, and tertiary-education records link to the annual cohort through the person identifier present in the yearly application-form file. Secondary-school-subject records are retained when the school year is less than or equal to application year, or when the school year is missing. Tertiary-education records are retained when tertiary education year is less than or equal to year of application.

    Quality standards

    Other quality statement
    Note that the 2025 UCT Student Admissions Data records are incomplete. The records are only available up to July 2025. These records will be updated with the new tranche of data.

    Access policy

    Location of Data Collection
    Remote Access Data Enclave
    URL for Location of Data Collection
    Number of Files
    4

    access_policy

    Access authority
    Name Affiliation URL Email
    DataFirst University of Cape Town support@data1st.org
    Access conditions
    Data available through our secure Remote Access Data Enclave
    Citation requirements
    UCT Admissions Office. University of Cape Town Student Admissions Data 2015-2025 [dataset]. Version 1. Cape Town: University of Cape Town [producer], 2026. Cape Town: DataFirst [distributor], 2026. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25828/db3e-m705
    Deposit requirements
    Users who publish results based on this dataset must notify DataFirst before publication and provide a copy of the publication or working paper.
    Availability Status
    Available in DataFirst's Remote Access Data Enclave

    Contacts

    Contacts
    Name Affiliation Email URL
    DataFirst Support University of Cape Town support@data1st.org

    Metadata production

    Producers
    Name Affiliation Role
    DataFirst University of Cape Town Metadata producer
    Date of Metadata Production
    2026-06-01

    Citation

    Citation
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