As of 2019, English is the medium language of teaching for all first-year classes at the university after AfriForum Youth and Solidarity lost a high court battle in 2016 to challenge the language policy.



Former University of the Witwatersrand vice-principal Tawana Kupe took up his position as the first black vice-chancellor at the University of Pretoria, placing racial transformation of academic staff at the centre of his agenda.