The University of Cape Town (UCT) has retained its position as Africa’s highest-ranked university in the 2027 Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings, moving up to joint 147th globally from joint 164th in the previous edition.

The latest rankings, released by Times Higher Education on September 30, 2026, cover 2,297 universities across 118 countries and territories, making the 2027 edition the largest in the ranking’s history.

UCT recorded an overall score of 62.4 and was ranked first among African universities. THE’s data shows the South African institution performed particularly strongly in research quality, industry engagement and international outlook.

The university’s profile on the THE platform lists 20,318 students for the data used in the 2027 rankings and six faculties covering Commerce, Engineering and the Built Environment, Health Sciences, Humanities, Law and Science.

UCT’s rise in the global rankings comes as the number of universities from sub-Saharan Africa included in the global assessment increased from 55 in the previous edition to 69 in 2027.

South Africa dominated the upper end of the African table, with seven of the first seven institutions coming from the country. Morocco’s Mohammed VI Polytechnic University occupied fifth place, while Egypt’s American University in Cairo and South Africa’s University of the Western Cape shared the eighth position.

The second-highest ranked African institution was the University of the Witwatersrand, commonly known as Wits, which placed in the 301–325 global band. Stellenbosch University followed in the 326–350 band, while the University of Johannesburg was placed between 351 and 375 globally.

Morocco’s Mohammed VI Polytechnic University ranked 376–400 globally, followed by the University of Pretoria in the 451–500 band and the University of KwaZulu-Natal in the 501–550 range. The American University in Cairo and the University of the Western Cape both fell within the 701–800 global band.

The 2027 ranking does not have a single institution occupying the 10th position in Africa. Instead, a large group of universities share the same 801–1000 global band and are jointly listed at 10th in the African table.

Among those institutions are Al-Azhar University, Alexandria University, Cairo University, Covenant University, Makerere University, University of Cape Coast, University of Ghana, University of Ibadan, University of Lagos and several others.

Al-Azhar University, which was highlighted in the original report, is therefore correctly described as one of the institutions jointly ranked 10th in Africa rather than the sole 10th-ranked university. THE places the Cairo-based institution in the 801–1000 global band.

Nigeria also recorded a stronger presence in the latest global ranking. THE says 29 Nigerian universities were included in the 2027 World University Rankings, five more than in the previous edition.

Covenant University, the University of Ibadan and the University of Lagos share Nigeria’s highest position, all appearing in the 801–1000 global band. Other Nigerian universities appearing in the ranking include Ahmadu Bello University and Bayero University, which are placed in the 1001–1200 band.

THE says its 2027 rankings are based on 17 performance indicators grouped under five broad areas: teaching, research environment, research quality, industry and international outlook. These measures are intended to assess different aspects of university performance rather than relying on a single academic indicator.

The 2027 results also show that Africa’s representation in global university rankings is expanding. THE says its separate Africa ranking covers 191 universities across 20 countries, with Egypt having the largest overall representation on the continent and South Africa having the strongest presence among the highest-ranked institutions.

The latest figures provide a snapshot of how universities across the continent are performing against THE’s global methodology, while the growing number of institutions included gives a broader picture of Africa’s higher education sector on the international stage.

Reporting by TalkNaijaMedia