South African universities feature in latest world rankings

a picture of Stellenbosch University in the Western Cape, South Africa.

Stellenbosch University. File photo.

Eleven South African universities were included in the recently released Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings for 2021. 

THE is a leading provider of higher education data for the world’s research-led institutions. It works with individual clients to build on the foundations of its World University Rankings, which have been adopted as a geo-political indicator.

These rankings are the only global performance tables in which a university’s performance is measured and judged across four core areas: teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook.

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This year, 1 527 research-led universities from 93 countries and regions have been ranked. Five of South Africa’s institutions were listed in the top 500.

Ranked at 155, the University of Cape Town made the category of the world’s top 200 universities in the survey. 

Four other South African institutions made the top global 500, as seen in the list below:

  • University of Witwatersrand 201 to 250 category
  • Stellenbosch University 251 to 300 category
  • University of KwaZulu-Natal 350 to 400 category
  • Durban University of Technology 401 to 500 category
  • North West University 501 to 600 category
  • University of Pretoria 601 to 800 category
  • University of Johannesburg 601 to 800 category
  • University of the Western Cape 601 to 800 category
  • University of South Africa 1 000+ category
  • Tshwane University of Technology 1 000+ category

To find out more about the methodology of the surveys, go to: www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/world-university-rankings-2021-methodology.