Ayoba! South African institutions make it onto the latest world rankings for the best universities and take top place in Africa.
South Africa (02 October 2026) – The Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2027 are out.
They looked at 2297 universities across 118 countries. South Africa has 17 universities on the list, and three of them have appeared for the first time.
The University of Cape Town (UCT) is still the best university in Africa. It climbed from 164th place last year to 147th in the world.
The University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) came second among South African universities, in the 301-325 group.
Last year it shared a group with Stellenbosch University, but this year Wits pulled ahead and Stellenbosch sits in the 326-350 group, followed by the University of Johannesburg in the 351-375 group.
The University of Pretoria also moved up, from the 501-600 group to the 451-500 group, and so did the Durban University of Technology, which went from the 1501+ group to 1201-1400.
Newcomers have joined the ranks, too. Walter Sisulu University, Tshwane University of Technology and the University of Venda all made the world rankings for the first time, landing in the 1801-2000 group.
South Africa really shines in the separate Africa ranking. Times Higher Education ranked 191 universities across 20 African countries, and South Africa holds seven of the top eight spots. UCT, Wits, Stellenbosch and the University of Johannesburg take the first four places.
THE uses 17 measures across five areas: teaching, the research environment, research quality, international outlook and industry. It considers things such as the learning environment, the research universities produce, how influential that research is, and their connections with businesses and academics abroad.
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South African-Made Shweshwe Handbags Set for Paris Fashion WeekResearch carries much of the weight, so these rankings are best understood as a comparison of universities with a strong research focus. They can’t tell a prospective student everything about a particular course or what their own experience on campus will be like.
It is encouraging to see South Africa’s universities stand next to the best in the world, and take top honours on the continent!
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