Best Universities in ZA 2026

A consensus ranking of 9 universities in ZA, aggregating QS, THE, ARWU (Shanghai) and U.S. News into one transparent table.

Data verified: June 2026 · Latest published edition of each ranking

How these rankings work: each university's position in QS, THE, ARWU and U.S. News is converted to a percentile, averaged with equal weight, and re-ordered by that average. Only universities appearing in at least one major ranking are shown. Full details on the methodology page.

#	University	QS 2026	THE 2026	ARWU 2025	U.S. News 2026	Consensus score
1	University of Cape Town	150	·	201-300	124	87.1
2	University of the Witwatersrand	291	325	201-300	265	82.7
3	Stellenbosch University	302	325	401-500	322	76.9
4	University of Johannesburg	308	375	501-600	319	73.7
5	University of Pretoria	362	550	501-600	460	69.1
6	University of KwaZulu-Natal	558	550	601-700	424	64.6
7	University of the Western Cape	951-1000	700	·	714	60.2
8	North-West University	951-1000	900	701-800	588	50.4
9	University of South Africa	901-950	1350	801-900	869	39.4

About ZA higher education

Universities in ZA are included in major global rankings including QS, THE, ARWU and U.S. News. The consensus scores above provide a balanced view by averaging across these four systems.

Data sources

QS World University Rankings 2026QS Quacquarelli Symonds · Jun 2025 · official release

THE World University Rankings 2026Times Higher Education · Oct 2025 · official release

ARWU 2025ShanghaiRanking Consultancy · Aug 2025 · official release

U.S. News Best Global Universities 2026U.S. News & World Report · official release

Cite this page:
EduRank (2026). Best Universities in ZA 2026. Retrieved June 2026, from https://edurank.co/rankings/country/za/

Independence statement: EduRank accepts no payment, sponsorship or commission from any university or ranking publisher.