Best Universities in South Africa
The rankings of universities are important for several reasons. They provide a measure of the quality and reputation of tertiary institutions, which can be used by students, academics, employers and policymakers when making decisions about education, research and employment.
The rankings can help prospective students to identify the best universities to apply to and make informed decisions about their education. Employers can use the rankings to identify the universities whose graduates have the most relevant skills and knowledge for their business needs. Policymakers can use the rankings to evaluate the effectiveness of education policies and funding decisions.
Rankings can also serve as a source of motivation for universities to improve their performance in various areas such as research, teaching and internationalisation. By identifying the areas where they are lagging behind their competitors, universities can take steps to improve and strengthen their standing in the rankings.
The 2023 Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) has been published by ShanghaiRanking Consultancy and listed 8 of South Africa's universities.
Universities are ranked by several indicators of academic or research performance, including alumni and staff winning Nobel Prizes, highly cited researchers, papers published in Nature and Science, papers indexed in major citation indices, and the per capita academic performance of an institution.
Scores are determined in each field, weighted, and then balanced in relation to the top-perming university, which is assigned a value of 100. All subsequent scores are relative to the top university.
While the ARWU does not publish the overall scored for lower-ranked universities, it does make its full methodology known, along with all the stats it uses to calculate it.
UCT Top Of The Rankings Again
For South African universities, it is then easy to determine how the local institutions rank relative to each other, even if their overall global placing is still only expressed in broad terms.
There was a significant shift in the 2022 ranking of universities.
The University of Cape Town has moved from the second place back up to number one and is the only local university to be ranked in the top 300 globally.
After being on the top spot, the University of Witwatersrand has moved back down to number 2.
Stellenbosch University and the University of Pretoria are at the next level for South African universities with both appearing in the range of 301 to 400.
In the range of 501 to 600 you will find some more of our popular local universities, University of Johannesburg, North-West University and University of KwaZulu-Natal.
Unisa came in as part of the lowest range on the list, in the 901 to 1000 range.
Rhodes University has fallen out of the list of best SA universities.
Overall, the rankings of universities in South Africa provide valuable information and insights that can inform decision-making at various levels and help to ensure that the country's tertiary education system remains competitive and responsive to the needs of students, employers and society as a whole.
Best Universities Around The World
More than 2,500 universities around the world are part of the ranking process and the top 1000 are part of the final listings.
The internationally respected Harvard University came out as number 1, followed by Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT. The top UK universities are Cambridge at number 4 and Oxford at number 7. The top European university is Paris-Saclay University in 15th place and the top Asian university is Tsinghua University at 22nd place.
