Best Universities in South Africa – GURI 2026

Top universities in South Africa

According to the GURI 2026 Global University Rankings, the highest-ranked universities in South Africa are University of Cape Town, University of The Witwatersrand, Stellenbosch University and others. South Africa has 14 GURI-eligible universities in this edition, and its highest global position is #120.

1. #1University of Cape TownGURI #120 · Score 89.75
2. #2University of The WitwatersrandGURI #265 · Score 82.15
3. #3Stellenbosch UniversityGURI #305 · Score 80.47
4. #4University of JohannesburgGURI #359 · Score 77.93
5. #5University of PretoriaGURI #408 · Score 75.58
6. #6University of Kwazulu-NatalGURI #524 · Score 69.78
7. #7University of the Western CapeGURI #957 · Score 52.59
8. #8University of South AfricaGURI #1003 · Score 50.73
9. #9North-West UniversityGURI #1056 · Score 49.34
10. #10University of the Free StateGURI #1230 · Score 44.12

How universities in South Africa perform globally

Across the 14 ranked institutions the average GURI Score is 56.13 and the median is 51.66. The GURI Score combines ranking achievement across QS, Times Higher Education and ShanghaiRanking with ranking coverage, inter-ranking consistency, institutional legacy and momentum.

Understanding the GURI ranking

GURI does not determine which university is objectively best. This ordering reflects the published GURI 2026 methodology only, and a different methodology would produce a different order. Read the methodology.

Compare universities in South Africa

Compare any two institutions side by side · Regional views: Africa · Global Composite Ranking

Edition GURI 2026 · Published by GURI Global LLC · Independent of QS, Times Higher Education and ShanghaiRanking.