The Shanghai Jiao Tong University has issued the Shanghai Ranking, formally known as the Academic Ranking of World Universities, yearly since 2003. More than 2 500 universities were assessed for the 2023 classification, with the University of Pretoria placing in the 401-500 band globally, and third nationally. Thus, UP has maintained its position in the top 10 in South Africa for years.
In 2022, the University of Pretoria was also classified in the 401-500 band in the world, placing fourth in Africa and third in South Africa. The former UP Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Prof. Tawana Kupe, praised the University for the great outcome. “I am incredibly proud of the UP community for this outstanding performance,” said Prof. Kupe. “The university ranking has a significant impact on reputation as well as student enrolment. This milestone confirms the quality of teaching and learning at UP, which produces socially impactful research to find solutions for the world’s most pressing issues.”
In the most recent Shanghai Ranking of academic subjects (published in 2022), the UP Department of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering secured the top spot in mechanical engineering in South Africa and ranked in the top 200 mechanical engineering departments internationally. It was the only South African mechanical engineering department positioned high enough to be ranked by the Shanghai Ranking system. The Shanghai Ranking system for academic subjects is particularly focused on objective research- based metrics. Thus, these outcomes highlight the research quality of UP’s mechanical and aeronautical engineering.
In 2023, the University of Pretoria maintained the position it held in the Shanghai Ranking of 2022. The University of Pretoria displays itself as being supportive of standard higher education in Africa. In the Shanghai Ranking six classification measures are used to evaluate universities: the percentage of graduates and staff winning Nobel prizes and categories medals, highly cited researchers, papers issued in prestigious journals such as Nature and Science, papers indexed in the Science Citation Index, and overall academic achievement per faculty member.
In the measure of highly cited researchers, which is the sum total researchers acknowledged for leading influential research, the University of Pretoria ranked second in South Africa for its strong research performance, making this UP’s best measure among the six measures. The University of Pretoria spotlights its ability to maintain world-class research and teaching standards. UP interim Vice-Chancellor and Principal Prof. Themba Mosia commented, “We are glad that the University of Pretoria proceeds to keep its spot worldwide and in Africa. This guides the university to increase our high quality even at a greater distance in teaching, analysis and transformation for the general benefits. UP’s results confirm its planned management as a research-intensive university bringing out alumni who are prepared through management and to direct helpful common impressions with their capabilities and mastery. [The] University of Pretoria continues to execute to the world standard along with meeting [them] as it runs after its creative power to be the foremost research-intensive university in Africa, recognised world wide for its standard, importance and influence.”
The UP Faculty of Law proceeded to accomplish great results in the worldwide rankings. This year UP is ranked first in the continent in two important international classifications: the 2023 Times Higher Education (THE) World Rankings and the 2023 Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Global Rankings by subject area.
The University of Pretoria has been growing as one of the top African universities and the largest contact university in South Africa. UP has a high standard of teaching and schooling in the classroom setting, online and everywhere else generally. The university provides huge support for its students to graduate on time, and it also proficiently prepares them for the world beyond university.
