THE University of Cape Town (UCT) is still the country’s leading university, according to the world rankings, which have recently come under intense scrutiny and criticism from some academics.

According to the 2025 Times Higher Education World University Rankings, UCT’s highest rankings are 81st for clinical and health, and 92nd for education in 2024.

UCT was ranked 180 among more than 2,000 institutions from 115 countries and territories, the rankings reveal.

However, only 14 of South Africa’s 26 public universities feature in the rankings.

Stellenbosch University and Wits University are both ranked between 301 and 350 while the University of Johannesburg (UJ) is placed between 401 and 500.

The University of Johannesburg has again been named in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings but some academics are questioning the criteria used.

The University of KwaZulu-Natal is ranked between 501 and 600 while both the University of Pretoria and the University of the Western Cape are in the 601 to 800 category.

North West University is ranked between 801 and 1,000, the University of the Free State is ranked 1,001 to 1,200 and University of South Africa, Durban University of Technology, and the Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University are between 1,201 and 1,500.

The University of Fort Hare and University of Venda are both ranked above 1,500.

”South Africa also performs consistently well for representation with at least 10 ranked universities in nine of the subject rankings and nine institutions ranked in both computer science and engineering,” the ranking state.

In addition, the country is the most represented in Africa for arts and humanities, business and economics, education studies, law, psychology and social sciences.

In business and economics, South Africa moves into the top 200, with UJ entering band 176-200, up from 201-250.

The system of more than one university ranking around the world has come under fire from various quarters despite being described as both prolific and influential.

Professor Sioux McKenna of Rhodes University has revealed that her own institution and other universities such as Utrecht in the Netherlands, Stillman, and Colombia in the US are among those that have publicly withdrawn from the rankings.

Rhodes University is the only African university that has explicitly stated it will not participate in the ranking systems, according to McKenna.

She added that in 2022, 17 medical schools and 62 law schools including Yale and Harvard withdrew from various ranking systems.

”It is tempting to assume that universities that refuse to participate in rankings are simply concerned about their poor showing in these systems. And it is true that certain universities will perform badly on these systems regardless of their efforts to do otherwise,” explained a paper researched and drafted by McKenna last year.

She indicated that small universities, those without medicine or engineering programmes, focus on teaching and learning and on community engagement as well as those serving working class students will inevitably perform worse in ranking systems.

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UCT leads South Africa’s universities in global rankings despite criticism