Rankings of universities in South Africa

Hierarchical lists that rank universities are regularly published by the popular press.^[1] Intended originally as a marketing or a benchmarking tool, university rankings have become a part of many countries research evaluation and policy initiatives.^[2] These different tables (see below) attempt to fulfill a demand for information and transparency. However, rankings influence evaluation choices and distort higher education policies.^[3] List producers allow well remunerated^[4] vice-chancellors to claim a top spot for their university in an educational league. These ranking, the publishers claim, are determined by quantitative indicators.^[5] Published research suggests otherwise, rankings are re-shaping public education and harming the academic project. According to an Independent Expert Group (IEG), convened by the United Nations University International Institute for Global Health,^[1] Global university rankings are

• conceptually invalid
• based on flawed and insufficiently transparent data and methods
• biased towards research, STEM subjects, and English-speaking scholars
• are colonial and accentuate global, regional, and national inequalities.

Rankings of universities in South Africa are used to influence how students, parents, policymakers, employers, the wider public and other stakeholders think about higher education.These local league tables are based on international university rankings since there are no South African rankings yet. This absence might be attributed to international criticism of college and university rankings. Its generally agreed that rankings apply questionable criteria and an opaque methodology. The Council for Higher Education (CHE) has recently taken a critical perspective on university rankings,^[6] publishing an opinion that argues that rankings are both neocolonial and neoliberal. According to the author, more than 47 publishing companies have used “inappropriate indicators …as a proxy for offering a quality education”.^[7]

Higher Education is being re-shaped by private for-profit companies^[8] and are part of a billion-dollar profit center for the companies owning them.^[9] Ranking companies prey on universities and governments in the global south, and their anxieties to be seen as a “world class” university.^[9] This has led to number of gaming behaviors in the sector.^[1] This is a global problem, and it seems that Higher Education priorities are misplaced, with marketing and communications officials focused on branding their institutions, looking appealing to prospective students, by referring repeatedly to rankings, instead of focusing on the needs of actual students.^[10] Since 2013, Rhodes University has held this critical position about rankings ^[11] Rhodes position was given credence by Wits University, when Wits recently re-published an article in “The Conversation”^[12] entitled “ University rankings are unscientific and bad for education: experts point out the flaws”.^[13] This stance is increasingly supported by notable institutions beyond North America, such as the University of Zurich, Utrecht University, and some of the Indian Institutes of Technology.^[14] Recently Nature concurred with this opinion that rankings are methodologically problematic.^[7]

Notwithstanding the above information, the numerous international university rankings do seem to agree that South Africa's university system is the strongest on the continent: it is home to 8 of the top 10 highest ranked African universities,^[15][16] however they are unable to come to a consensus as to which of the big five are academically, after University of Cape Town. ^[17] The race for second place is between Stellenbosch University, University of Pretoria, University of the Witwatersrand, University of Johannesburg and University of Kwa Zulu Natal^[18]

A 2010 Centre for Higher Education Transformation report identified three university clusters in South Africa, grouped according to function. The input variables used to group universities were:

• Percentage of headcount enrolment in science, engineering and technology
• Masters and doctoral enrolments
• Student-to-staff ratios
• Permanent staff with doctoral degrees
• Private and government income
• Student fee income

The output variables were:

• Student success rates
• Graduation rates
• Weighted research output units per permanent staff member

The Red cluster constitutes the top research-intensive universities. The Blue cluster consists of institutions focused primarily on technical training, while the Green cluster includes institutions which show characteristics of both missions. The clusters are:^[19]

In part because of the inherent difficulty of ranking complex educational institutions, there are an expanding number of competing international university ranking schemes, each with a different emphasis. Four of the most prominent are the Times Higher Education World University Rankings (most widely accepted), The Center for World University Rankings (CWUR), QS World University Rankings, and the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU, sometimes referred to as the "Shanghai Rankings").

The Times Higher Education World University Rankings ranked the top South African universities as follows:^{[20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33]}

QS World University Rankings ranked the top South African universities as follows (before 2010 the ranking was known as the Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings):^[34]

The Academic Ranking of World Universities has ranked the top South African universities as follows:

Note: These are the only ranked South African universities.

The CWUR ranked the top South African Universities as follows:^[55][56]

URAP, which is a newer ranking scheme based solely on quantitative measures of academic productivity, includes data for a larger number of global universities, and thus gives an alternative view of the relative standing of more South African institutions. The 2020-2021 edition of URAP ranked the top South African Universities as follows:^[61]

University Admissions in South Africa are highly competitive. South Africa boasts many universities renowned for their quality education and research opportunities. The limited number of spots available and growing demand for tertiary education, creates high competition among matric students.

South African Universities have some of the lowest admission rates, as only NSC Results, standardized test scores (National Benchmark Test) and demographic information play a role in determining admission.

In 2023, around 900 000 students participated in the NSC final exams, with around 570 000 students passing. South African Universities have around 140 000 spaces for first years. Applications costs range from Free to R300 ($15). Applications request your Grade 11 NSC results, Gender, Race and Additionally may require you to write the National Benchmark Test. Acceptance rates range from 1.35% to 20%^[62]

• College and university rankings