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University of Cape Town tops our list of 195 universities in South Africa at #150 in the QS World University Rankings 2026. It is followed by University of Witwatersrand (QS World #291) and University of Johannesburg (QS World #308). Across the whole list there are 2,574 courses to choose from.
195 universities · ranked best first
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Public University · 20 courses
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Public University · 45 courses
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Public University · 46 courses
Public University · 32 courses
in South Africa
By university type
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5 of these universities hold a QS World position, from #150 (University of Cape Town) to #587 (University of KwaZulu-Natal); they are listed first, in that order. Below them, universities follow their research output: University of Cape Town is cited most (7,736,530 citations). 2 universities have neither a QS position nor a research record yet and appear at the end, marked "Not yet ranked".
29 are public and 0 private (100% public). The oldest is University of Fort Hare, founded in 1916. Walter Sisulu University for Technology and Science is the largest, with 27,500 students.
By level: 98 bachelor's, 56 diploma, 22 master's and 10 phd / doctorate. The most common subjects are Business & Management (32), Agriculture (11), Education (11) and Medicine & Health Sciences (11). The usual length is 4 years and 2 years. 99% are full-time and 2 can be studied online. Start dates lean to Fall (100% of courses with a stated intake) and Spring (97% of courses with a stated intake). Walter Sisulu University for Technology and Science offers the widest choice, with 46 of these courses.
University of Cape Town (QS World #150), University of Witwatersrand (QS World #291) and University of Johannesburg (QS World #308) lead this list. QS World positions come first; the rest are ranked by research impact.
29 public and 0 private universities are on this list.
Most listed courses run 4 years, with 2 years the next most common.
Fall is the main intake — 100% of courses with a stated start date begin then, and Spring is the second.
Walter Sisulu University for Technology and Science, with 46, ahead of Univerisity of Mpumalanga (45).
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