All 26 universities in South Africa ranked – with one rising fast

Webometrics has published its mid-year update to the global ranking of universities in 2024, with the University of Cape Town maintaining its top position and the University of Johannesburg rising fast.

The rankings—created by Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, the largest public research body in Spain—are based on the quality, quantity, and access to web content provided by universities.

The group noted that the ranking’s original aim was to promote Web publication. Its primary targets are Supporting Open Access initiatives and electronic access to scientific publications and other academic material.

However, web indicators have since become more useful for ranking purposes, given that they are not based on the number of visits or webpage design but rather on the global performance and visibility of the universities.

“As other rankings focus only on a few relevant aspects, especially research results, a web indicators-based ranking better reflects the whole picture, as many other activities of professors and researchers are shown by their web presence.”

Crucially, the ranking is based not only on the universities’ websites but also on their webometric (all missions) and bibliometric (research mission) indicators.

Webometrics said that the rankings are mainly based on three core indicators.

• Visibility: The number of external networks (subnets) linking to the institution’s web pages ( weighted 50%)

• Transparency or Openness: The number of citations from the Top 310 authors, excluding the top 30 outliers (10%)

• Excellence: The number of papers amongst the top 10% most cited in each one of all 27 disciplines of the full database over the last five years (40%)

Another big differentiator between the Webometrics ranking and other university rankings is that its methodology and data collection allow it to rank a large number of higher learning institutions, including smaller colleges and institutes.

The overall analysis extends beyond 30,000 tertiary institutions globally, including universities, private institutes and colleges. We have focused on only the official universities in South Africa.

The methodology also allows the group to update the ranking during the course of the year, with an initial ranking in January, followed by a mid-year update in July as the academic year takes shape.

The ranking thus includes all 26 of South Africa’s universities, which have been tabled below.

As with previous years, the University of Cape Town has ranked top in the country and improved its global standing by one spot.

The University of the Witwatersrand has also maintained its number-two spot in the local ranking and also improved in the global rankings.

Two bigger changes in the ranking since the start of the year are Stellenbosch University and the University of Pretoria tying for third place, with both universities improving globally, and the University of Johannesburg frog-leaping the University of KwaZulu-Natal to take fifth position.

UJ saw a massive climb in the ranking since the start of the year, improving 58 places.

Other universities that saw massive jumps in the rankings include Durban University of Technology, which leapt from 2,855th to 1,772nd, and Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, which broke into the top 3,000, pushing it up two places in the local ranking.

Overall, most of South Africa’s universities have improved their global standing since the start of the year, with 17 of 26 climbing the rankings.

However, only the top four universities ranked among the top 500 in the overall listing.

Read: Only one university in South Africa moved up the latest global ranking