Which South African universities are closing their applications on 31st October 2026?

31st October is a notable cut off date for higher education in South Africa. Not only does NSFAS close its applications for funding, but many universities across the country also end their applications for postgraduate studies, after undergraduates had their own applications closed earlier in the year.

With that date just around the corner, here’s the details about which universities and what they are closing on 31st October 2026.

Before we get into the dates, we want to mention that these are only applicable to South African students. Many of the universities we covered here have different dates for international students, which are usually earlier.

Lastly, we are not covering any online studies which these universities offer. The online courses and schools which are open right now usually work on a rolling basis so students can apply and start their studies at any time, or at the start of the next semester.

University of South Africa (Unisa)

Applications for Honours degrees and postgraduate diplomas are now closed.

Applications for Master’s or Doctoral qualifications close between 1st September and 20th November, depending on the exact qualification.

More information is available by clicking or tapping here.

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**The University of Johannesburg (UJ) **

Student accommodation applications for first-time undergrads and postgrads close on 31st October.

Postgraduate studies across all postgraduate programmes also close on this date, with some exceptions.

These exceptions are: Faculty of Engineering, Faculty of Education, Faculty of Humanities, College of Business and Economics, and the Faculty of Science. Depending on the exact course being pursued, the dates will change accordingly.

More information is available by clicking or tapping here.

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**University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) **

Reading over Wits’ official documentation and the university seems to shy away from one specific date to cover so many qualifications.

That being said, we did see 31st October come up as the closing date for some Honours programmes, as well as it being the date which sees the closure of accommodation applications for new postgraduate students.

It’s recommended that current and perspective students simply enter the name of their course or qualification into the “Study at Wits” portal (below) to find all the relevant dates.

More information is available by clicking or tapping here.

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University of Pretoria (Tuks)

Tuks’ important dates calendar, which includes application details, for all levels of schooling has unfortunately not been updated since 2025.

We did, however, find the dedicated postgraduate studies page, which contains direct links to more information for Doctorates, Master’s, Honours and Diplomas/Certificates.

Using these links we can see that some of these do cluster around closing on 31st October, but they vary wildly.

More information is available by clicking or tapping here.

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**University of Cape Town (UCT) **

UCT finally gives us an easy-to-read answer covering everything around application closure dates for this year.

“Applications for 2027 opened on 1st April 2026. Most postgraduate programmes containing coursework close on 30th September 2026 (exceptions are listed in the 2027 Directions for Postgraduate Applicant whilst research-only programmes remain open until 31st December 2027. Applications for 2026 research-only programmes remain open until 31st December 2026. For faculty- or programme-specific information, please see the 2026 Directions for Postgraduate Applicants,” the university writes.

As stated the application window has now closed but some remain open, available to find inside of those links.

More information is available by clicking or tapping here.

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**University of the Free State (UFS) **

Postgraduate applications at UFS have unfortunately closed already.

According to the university’s own 2027 Prospectus for Postgraduate Programmes PDF, Honours, Advanced Diplomas, and Postgraduate Diplomas seekers had until 31st September to apply.

More information is available by clicking or tapping here.

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University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN)

This university is giving us mixed information.

“Applications for admission (Undergraduate, Postgraduate Diploma & Honours) in 2027 for international and postgraduate students are closed for undergraduate programmes, postgraduate diplomas and Honours programmes, with the exception for Bachelor of Science Honours programmes and School of Commerce Honours programmes,” reads the UKZN application website.

According to another Postgraduate Programmes PDF, 31st October is only notable as the closing date for enrolled Masters completing their first semester of coursework.

Despite what is mentioned above, a social media post released today states that postgraduate applications close on 31st October.

We highly recommend directly contacting the university and asking them about a specific course of study to get the best information for your studies.

More information is available by clicking or tapping here.

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**North-West University (NWU) **

Master’s and Doctoral applications close on 30th November.

More information is available by clicking or tapping here.

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Rhodes University

Some Doctoral Programmes close their applications on 31st October, while Masters and PhD Applications closed already on 1st June.

More information is available by clicking or tapping here.

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University of the Western Cape (UWC)

For Postgraduate studies, “Assisted and online registration takes place during January (first semester intake) and July (second semester intake) of each year. If a supervisor is available and an application is approved, the applicant registers by signing and handing in the registration form.”

More information is available by clicking or tapping here.

[Image – CC Jorge Urosa on Pexels]

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