The University of Cape Town continues to lead as the best in South Africa. Photo: Katie Holt / Flickr
The ShanghaiRanking Consultancy has published the 2022 Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), which includes nine South African universities.
Since 2003, the Academic Ranking of World Universities has presented yearly the best universities in the world based on a clear methodology and objective third-party data. This year, almost 2500 schools were evaluated, and a list of the top 1000 universities in the world was compiled.
With eight colleges, the United States of America continues to dominate the top ten. Harvard University leads the list for the twentieth consecutive year. Stanford University continues to hold the No. 2 position. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) moves up to third place. Other universities in the top ten are Cambridge (fourth), Berkeley (fifth), Princeton (sixth), Oxford (seventh), Columbia (eighth), Caltech (ninth), and Chicago (tenth).
In Continental Europe, the finest university is Paris-Saclay University (16th), followed by ETH Zurich (20th). Among Asian institutions, The University of Tokyo (24th) continues to hold the top spot. Tsinghua University (26th) rises up two spots and maintains its status as the second-best university in Asia. Since 2011, the University of Melbourne (32nd) has led all other institutions in Oceania for twelve consecutive years.
SOUTH AFRICAN INSTITUTIONS RANKED
Locally and globally, the University of Cape Town continues to top South African university rankings. It is the only university in the Top 200, followed by Wits University in the Top 300.
| World Rank | Institution | National/Regional Rank |
| 201 – 300 | University of Cape Town | 1 |
| 301 – 400 | University of the Witwatesrand | 2 |
| 401 – 500 | Stellenbosch University | 3 -5 |
| 401 – 500 | University of Johannesburg | 3 – 5 |
| 401 – 500 | University of Pretoria | 3 – 5 |
| 501 – 600 | University of KwaZulu-Natal | 6 |
| 601 – 700 | North West University | 7 |
| 901 – 1000 | University of South Africa | 8 – 9 |
| 901 – 1000 | University of the Free State | 8 – 9 |