These South African university courses are among the best in the world
We are often quite critical about what we perceive to be a lowering of standards in respect of our universities. Every year QS World University Rankings publish a wide range of different rankings, this one ranks courses offered at South African universities, and how they rank in the top 500 universities globally.
There are 20,000 registered universities globally, nine of the 23 South African universities rank in the top 800, or the top 4% depending on how you look at it.
As an observation, one of the things that struck me looking at these photographs is just how beautiful and well-designed are universities are (Steuart Pennington)
Staff Writer BusinessTech 1 March 2018
The latest QS World University Rankings has listed all the subjects that South Africa’s top universities excel at in 2018 – ranking among the top 500 courses in the world.
The report covers 42 subjects in arts and humanities; engineering and technology; life sciences and medicine; natural sciences; and social sciences.
South African universities stand out for their expertise in development studies, QS said, while South Africa’s top-ranked university – the University of Cape Town – ranked within the top 100 globally for 11 subjects.
Overall, UCT has 35 subjects ranked within the top 500 universities in the world (all within the top 350), while the University of the Witwatersrand has 21 subjects within the top 500. This is followed by Stellenbosch University with 18 subjects, the University of Pretoria with 15 subjects, UKZN with 8, the University of Johannesburg with 4 and Rhodes university with 2 subjects.
Five of South Africa’s universities perform strongly in developmental studies, with the subject being the highest-ranked subject at UCT, Stellies, UJ and UKZN. At Wits, the subject is the second strongest subject, after mining and mineral engineering, where Wits ranks as the 15th best university in the world for that subject.
Wits is also the only university in South Africa ranked for mathematics.
The University of Pretoria and the University of KwaZulu-Natal, meanwhile, are also the best universities in the country theological and religious studies, and Rhodes makes its mark known in communication and media studies.
The tables below outline the top subjects to study at South Africa’s ranked universities. Subjects within the top 100 are highlighted in green.
University of Cape Town
| Subject | Global ranking |
|---|---|
| Development Studies | 11 |
| Sports-Related Subjects | 37 |
| Archaeology | 38 |
| Geography | 49 |
| Architecture | 51-100 |
| English | 51-100 |
| Agriculture & Forestry | 51-100 |
| Anatomy & Physiology | 51-100 |
| Anthropology | 51-100 |
| Law | 51-100 |
| Social Policy & Administration | 51-100 |
| History | 101-150 |
| Medicine | 101-150 |
| Earth & Marine Sciences | 101-150 |
| Environmental Sciences | 101-150 |
| Communication & Media Studies | 101-150 |
| Education | 101-150 |
| Politics & International Studies | 101-150 |
| Sociology | 101-150 |
| Art & Design | 101-150 |
| Linguistics | 101-150 |
| Civil Engineering | 151-200 |
| Biological Sciences | 151-200 |
| Pharmacy & Pharmacology | 151-200 |
| Psychology | 151-200 |
| Physics & Astronomy | 151-200 |
| Accounting & Finance | 151-200 |
| Business & Management Studies | 151-200 |
| Modern Languages | 201-250 |
| Chemical Engineering | 201-250 |
| Mechanical, Aeronautical & Manufacturing Engineering | 201-250 |
| Electrical Engineering | 251-300 |
| Economics & Econometrics | 251-300 |
| Computer Science & Information Systems | 301-350 |
| Chemistry | 301-350 |
University of the Witwatersrand
| Subject | Global ranking |
|---|---|
| Mineral & Mining Engineering | 15 |
| Development Studies | 19 |
| Archaeology | 51-100 |
| Anthropology | 51-100 |
| Earth & Marine Sciences | 101-150 |
| Geography | 101-150 |
| Architecture | 151-200 |
| English | 151-200 |
| Medicine | 151-200 |
| Law | 151-200 |
| Politics & International Studies | 151-200 |
| Education | 201-250 |
| Sociology | 201-250 |
| Linguistics | 251-300 |
| Chemical Engineering | 251-300 |
| Agriculture & Forestry | 251-300 |
| Pharmacy & Pharmacology | 251-300 |
| Biological Sciences | 351-400 |
| Mathematics | 351-400 |
| Chemistry | 401-450 |
| Physics & Astronomy | 451-500 |
Stellenbosch University
| Subject | Global ranking |
|---|---|
| Development Studies | 44 |
| Theology, Divinity and Religious Studies | 51-100 |
| Agriculture & Forestry | 51-100 |
| Geography | 151-200 |
| Law | 151-200 |
| English | 201-250 |
| Linguistics | 251-300 |
| Chemical Engineering | 251-300 |
| Medicine | 251-300 |
| Environmental Sciences | 251-300 |
| Business & Management Studies | 251-300 |
| Education | 251-300 |
| Biological Sciences | 301-350 |
| Mechanical, Aeronautical & Manufacturing Engineering | 351-400 |
| Economics & Econometrics | 351-400 |
| Computer Science & Information Systems | 401-450 |
| Chemistry | 401-450 |
| Physics & Astronomy | 451-500 |
University of Pretoria
| Subject | Global ranking |
|---|---|
| Theology, Divinity and Religious Studies | 51-100 |
| Agriculture & Forestry | 101-150 |
| Archaeology | 151-200 |
| Architecture | 151-200 |
| Law | 151-200 |
| Education | 201-251 |
| Chemical Engineering | 251-300 |
| Mechanical, Aeronautical & Manufacturing Engineering | 251-300 |
| Sociology | 251-300 |
| Electrical Engineering | 301-351 |
| Economics & Econometrics | 301-351 |
| Biological Sciences | 351-400 |
| Medicine | 351-400 |
| Computer Science & Information Systems | 401-450 |
| Chemistry | 451-500 |
University of KwaZulu-Natal
| Subject | Global ranking |
|---|---|
| Theology, Divinity and Religious Studies | 51-100 |
| Development Studies | 51-100 |
| Agriculture & Forestry | 201-250 |
| Education | 251-300 |
| Medicine | 351-400 |
| Chemistry | 351-400 |
| Biological Sciences | 451-500 |
| Physics & Astronomy | 451-500 |
University of Johannesburg
| Subject | Global ranking |
|---|---|
| Development Studies | 51-100 |
| Geography | 151-200 |
| English | 251-300 |
| Law | 251-300 |
Rhodes University
| Subject | Global ranking |
|---|---|
| Communication & Media Studies | 151-200 |
| English | 201-250 |
The QS subject rankings are based on a mix of survey responses and hard data, compiled and weighted to formulate a final score.
This includes academic reputation, employer reputation, citations per paper, the h-index (an index that measures both the productivity and impact of the published work of a scientist or scholar) as well as insight from discipline-level experts and specialists.
