A new university ranking that focuses on academic performance has been released, ranking 18 South African universities among 2,500 institutes across the world.<\/p>\n
The University Ranking by Academic Performance (URAP) differs from other widely published rankings by not precluding the lower-end of institutions, particularly in developing nations.<\/p>\n
“Most ranking systems cover up to top 500 universities around the world, which mostly represents institutions located in developed countries.”<\/p>\n
“Universities from other countries around the world also deserve and need to know where they stand among other institutions at global and national levels,” the group said.<\/p>\n
The URAP ranking system’s focus is on academic quality. The group\u00a0has gathered data about 2,500 Higher Education Institutes (HEI) in an effort to rank these organizations by their academic performance.<\/p>\n
The overall score of each HEI is based upon its performance over several indicators, including\u00a0current scientific productivity, research impact, research quality and international acceptance.<\/p>\n
Data is gathered from Web of Science and other sources which provide lists of HEIs, the group said.<\/p>\n
The data holds no big surprises for South Africa, naming the University of Cape Town as the top university in the country – followed by all the usual suspects: Wits, UKZN and Stellenbosch University.<\/p>\n
However, the ranking includes 18 South African universities, overall, making it the most comprehensive global university ranking in the country to date.<\/p>\n
These are the top universities in the country:<\/p>\n
| SA #<\/th>\n | Global<\/th>\n | University<\/th>\n | Score<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1<\/td>\n | 237<\/td>\n | University of Cape Town<\/td>\n | 342.74<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| 2<\/td>\n | 312<\/td>\n | University of the Witwatersrand<\/td>\n | 330.54<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| 3<\/td>\n | 369<\/td>\n | University of KwaZulu Natal<\/td>\n | 324.98<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| 4<\/td>\n | 405<\/td>\n | Stellenbosch University<\/td>\n | 322.05<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| 5<\/td>\n | 490<\/td>\n | University of Pretoria<\/td>\n | 316.25<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| 6<\/td>\n | 676<\/td>\n | University of Johannesburg<\/td>\n | 308.57<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| 7<\/td>\n | 818<\/td>\n | North West University<\/td>\n | 304.61<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| 8<\/td>\n | 900<\/td>\n | University of the Western Cape<\/td>\n | 302.04<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| 9<\/td>\n | 1049<\/td>\n | Rhodes University<\/td>\n | 280.78<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| 10<\/td>\n | 1071<\/td>\n | University of the Free State<\/td>\n | 277.25<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| 11<\/td>\n | 1248<\/td>\n | University of South Africa (Unisa)<\/td>\n | 224.47<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| 12<\/td>\n | 1357<\/td>\n | Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (Port Elizabeth)<\/td>\n | 190.98<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| 13<\/td>\n | 1358<\/td>\n | Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (George)<\/td>\n | 190.84<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| 14<\/td>\n | 1491<\/td>\n | Tshwane University of Technology<\/td>\n | 153.00<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| 15<\/td>\n | 1810<\/td>\n | Cape Peninsula University of Technology<\/td>\n | 79.69<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| 16<\/td>\n | 1815<\/td>\n | University of Limpopo<\/td>\n | 78.75<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| 17<\/td>\n | 1879<\/td>\n | University of Fort Hare<\/td>\n | 67.68<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| 18<\/td>\n | 1901<\/td>\n | Durban University of Technology<\/td>\n | 63.56<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n<\/div>\nMore on universities<\/h3>\nThe best universities in South Africa<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Wits University ranked top in South Africa in 2016<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n |