These are the top 10 best universities in South Africa by academic performance currently. The academic performance, facilities, and size of the institution contribute greatly to the ranking.
This ranking is based on Times Higher Education World University Rankings and QS World University Rankings list. These are very credible sources rating Universities by many factors.
Not wasting much of your time, kindly check the list below. Go ahead and also check the table of contents to see an overview of the list. You can click on any of the names in the table of contents to jump to the particular university.
University of Cape Town – 1st
This is the oldest high educational institute in South Africa. This institution has been ranked as the best university in South Africa since 2004. It consistently slots in the number one position on all kinds of ratings around the World. It also maintains a position between 200 and 300 on the World’s Best Universities chart.
The university performs well academically and has all the facilities that students need. This year, it has also ranked first among the best universities in South Africa. SLiMFACTSGh has a full article on the University of Cape Town on its blog. You can check it out.
University of the Witwatersrand – 2nd
The list of the best universities in South Africa could not be complete without Wits.
This university has also consistently maintained the second position for a very long time. In addition to keeping the second spot, it also moves up a bit once in a while. The university is one of the biggest tertiary institutions in Johannesburg.
It is also known for its quality research and has also kept the slot between 200 and 300 among the best universities in the World.
Stellenbosch University – 3rd
Stellenbosch University is in Stellenbosch, a suburb of Western Cape province. This institution is the oldest university in South Africa and also, the oldest extant university in Saharan Africa. According to history, this university is the best when it comes to innovation and invention.
In this year’s QS and Times Higher ratings, it is the third-best university in South Africa. But in previous ratings, for instance, the 2015 ratings saw the university sitting at the 5th position of the ranking table.
University of KwaZulu-Natal – 4th
This university was founded in 2004 by a merger between the University of Natal and the University of Durban-Westville. This university is the best when it comes to science, technology, mathematics, and engineering.
The reputation of this university is really good hence making it slot the fourth position as the fourth best university in South Africa. It has also been between the 401 to 500 position on the list of the best universities in the world.
Durban University of Technology – 5th
The Durban University of Technology is also another university in existence following the merger between Technikon Natal and ML Sultan Technikon in 2002. The university has since then been doing really great both locally and globally.
This university is currently the fifth-best university in South Africa. It also ranks between the 401 to 500 bracket globally. In previous ratings the university ranked greatly, slotting the first position among other best positions.
North-West University – 6th
North-West University is one of the best and one of the largest public universities in South Africa by student headcount. This university also emerged from the merger between Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education and the University of Bophuthatswana.
This university ranks sixth on the list of universities in South Africa. It also has a good reputation on the global level ranking between the 501 to 600 brackets globally.
University of Johannesburg – 7th
The University of Johannesburg is another public university coming into existence through a merger. This university has international students from 80 countries making up over 6% of the total student population.
This institution slots in the seventh position as the seventh-best university in South Africa. It also slots seventh on the best university in Africa ranking and ranking between 601 and 800 globally.
University of Pretoria – 7th
The University of Pretoria is another public institution in Pretoria, the administrative and de facto capital of South Africa.
This university also ranks seventh just like the University of Johannesburg and also ranks between 600 and 800 globally.
University of the Western Cape – 7th
The University of the Western Cape is another public university on the list. It is located in Bellville a suburb of Cape Town, South Africa.
Just like the University of Johannesburg and the University of Pretoria, this university is also seventh on the list in South Africa and between 600 and 800 globally.
University of South Africa – 10th
The University of South Africa popularly known as Unisa is, without doubt, the largest university in South Africa and the whole of Africa. This university has over 400,000 students enrolled including international students.
This institution ranks as the tenth university in South Africa. It is also ranking above 1000 globally.
Tshwane University of Technology – 10th
The merger of three technikons which are Technikon Northern Gauteng, Technikon North-West, and Technikon Pretoria brought the Tshwane University of Technology to existence.
This institution along with the University of South Africa both slot the tenth spot on the list of best universities in South Africa.
There is also an article about the top best universities in New Zealand. I think this might interest you since the 10 best universities in South Africa grabbed your attention.
Summary
The Tshwane University of Technology ends the list of the top 10 best universities in South Africa.
The list consists of eleven universities instead of the usual ten. However, the tenth position has two of the best universities in South Africa slotting so it won’t be a fair list if I leave some out.
There is also the probability that the list will change next year is very high. But until that time, now the list of best universities in South Africa has eleven institutions.