It is the only South African university to break into the Top 10 - moving from 11th position last year to ninth this year in a survey by QS University Rankings.
Other South African universities surveyed included the University of the Witwatersrand, at position 31 this year, Stellenbosch at 34, Pretoria at 46, KwaZulu-Natal at 60, University of Johannesburg at 65, Rhodes at 76 and University of the Western Cape at 92 on the list.
The University of the Free State and the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University were in the 101 to 110 grouping and 151 to 200 ranges respectively.r
Top honours went to China's Tsinghua University. Five other Chinese universities made it into the top 10.
The universities were measured on academic and employer reputations, faculty-to-student ratio, staff with doctorates, papers per faculty, citations per paper, international faculty, and international students.
Martin Ince, senior editor of QS Higher Education World, said poor faculty-to-student ratios had an adverse effect on South African universities' rankings.
Despite UCT's success, its spokesman, Riana Geldenhuys, said it would not comment until the results had been studied.
University of Johannesburg's Deputy Vice-Chancellor Tinyiko Maluleke said his university's ranking would inspire the staff and students to strive for greater excellence.
However, not all South African universities were celebrating.
Rhodes University spokesman Zamuxolo Matiwana said the institution did not take part in such rankings as a matter of principle. He said the university wanted to meet the real needs of the South African education sector without engaging in homogenous attempts at excellence.
"Instead of aspiring to this Western educational ideal, South African universities should concentrate on establishing themselves in different ways with different strengths," Matiwana claimed.
Source: The Times via I-Net Bridge
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