Two UCT subjects in top 100

The University of Cape Town (UCT) has been ranked among the top 100 globally for two subjects – clinical, pre-clinical and health, and social sciences – in the 2020 Times Higher Education (THE) Rankings by subject.

For clinical, pre-clinical and health, UCT moved up seven places from 72nd to 65th. In social sciences, the university dropped three positions from 89th to 92nd.

“Rankings aren’t – and cannot be – everything to everyone. And they certainly aren’t the only thing guiding or driving UCT’s research,” says Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research and Internationalisation Professor Sue Harrison.

“But they are important as they do allow a window into how the rest of the world sees and positions us. And particularly in the case of clinical, pre-clinical and health, and the social sciences, we are doing exceptionally well on this global stage.”

THE launched its 11 subject rankings in four phases during October and November, and the last batch of results were released today.

THE bases its subject rankings on the same 13 performance indicators used in its world rankings, but the methodology is recalibrated to suit each field. It publishes exact positions only from one to 100. Thereafter, universities are ranked in broad bands.

The subject-specific tables follow the publication of the overall THE World University Rankings 2020 in September, in which UCT was ranked 136th – representing an improvement of 20 places.

Other subject rankings

Earlier this year, in the 2019 QS World University Rankings by Subject, UCT placed among the top 100 universities in a total of nine disciplines. For development studies, UCT moved up two places from 2018 and now occupies 9th position.

Eight other subjects at UCT were also ranked among the top 100 in these rankings: anatomy and physiology, anthropology, archaeology, architecture/built environment, education, geography, social policy and administration, and sports-related subjects.

Read about the 2020 THE Rankings by subject methodologies (which can be accessed from each of the subject pages).