Day Three: Varsity College, University of Pretoria, and Higher Education South Africa

On Wednesday 14th the team started the day by splitting into two: seven of us went to Varsity College, a private higher education provider, while the other three went back to the University of Pretoria for a tour of their sports facilities. Both groups had very interesting experiences with the group at Varsity College gaining an understanding of the place of private providers in higher education in South Africa and the group at the University of Pretoria having the opportunity to see their extensive and impressive sports facilities.

The whole group reconvened at the Client Services Centre at the University of Pretoria where we spoke to members of the Student Administration team about the challenges they have faced since creating the centre in 2002. This was an area of great interest to members of the team due to the discussions in many UK institutions about the creation of a 'one stop shop' for student inquiries.

We spent the afternoon at Higher Education South Africa (HESA) which is the South African equivalent of UUK and aims to promote the interests of the higher education sector. It was interesting to speak to an organisation that could provide an overview of higher education in the country and a wider context for our visits to universities. Our discussions touched on the challenges faced by the sector, changes in the pipeline for the future such as the development of a central application service, as well as the role of HESA in representing a diverse group of universities.