The University of Cape Town (UCT) has been ranked the highest on the continent in the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) 2021. It has been ranked in 201-300 band by ARWU 2021, published on Sunday.
The latest ranking means UCT leads in Africa in all five major world university rankings: Times Higher Education (THE), Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), Center for World University Rankings (CWUR), US News & World Report Best Global Universities, and ARWU.
The ARWU, also known as the Shanghai Ranking, annually ranks more than 1,800 universities across six key indicators and publishes the best 1,000.
UCT’s vice-chancellor Prof Mamokgethi Phakeng said the institution’s continued pursuit for excellence is the reason the university continues to rank among the top institutions in the world.
“We are proud to continue being in such a strong position, one we are working to harness for further impact on the continent and beyond,” Phakeng said.
She said although it is not usually accounted for in international university rankings, like this one, UCT strongly values its positive impact on society.
“By placing transformation and sustainability at the core of our vision for the future we are working to pursue these in parallel with excellence.”
Phakeng added that this year, UCT regained the top score in the country in the ARWU highly cited researchers indicator, which contributes 20% of the total weighting, with three UCT researchers in the list: Emeritus Professor William Bond, Professor Vicki Lambert and Professor Dan Stein.
The ARWU was first published in 2003 by Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China, making it the first global university ranking with multifarious indicators.
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