KZN has been listed number one in South Africa on the 2025/2026 Times Higher Education (THE) Young University Rankings and 61 out of the 475 universities worldwide on the listings.

THE Young University Rankings lists the world’s best universities that are 50 years old and younger. A total of 68 countries/regions featured in the rankings this year.

UKZN, which ranked ahead of the Durban University of Technology, North-West University, the University of Johannesburg and Tshwane University of Technology, is the only South African university to feature in the Top 100 and has improved on its 2020 position of 71.

Key performance areas assessed are teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook. UKZN received high scores in the areas of teaching and research and also performed well in the international outlook indicator.

Commenting on the excellent achievement, Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Innovation at UKZN Professor Mosa Moshabela, highlighted the importance of the merger between the former universities of Natal (1910-2004) and Durban-Westville (1972-2003), which produced the successful ‘young’ University of UKZN on 1 January 2004.

“It gives me great comfort that UKZN is doing well from a global perspective and that staff and students are persisting with ongoing collective efforts to grow the university both in stature and impact. On behalf of the university, I thank THE sincerely for their continued efforts.”

Top of the THE Young University rankings this year is Nanyang Technological University in Singapore – a first-time achievement for the institution, while Paris Sciences et Lettres – PSL Research University Paris ranked second, up from third last year. The United Kingdom has the highest number of universities in the rankings, with 37 institutions listed, followed by India with 34 and Spain 33.

THE Young University Rankings applies the same methodology as the flagship World University Rankings to assess research-intensive universities across all their core missions.

Times Higher Education is the leading provider of higher education data for the world’s research-led institutions.

For more information, visit https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/2025/2026/young-university-rankings.

UKZN

An innovative curricula, dynamic teaching and learning, state-of-the-art laboratories and accredited professional degrees have earned UKZN the reputation as a leading higher education institution on the African continent. The University is a top-ranked state-funded university in South Africa for research productivity. Research activities span the natural, biomedical, humanities and social sciences.

The University’s international partnerships with institutions in 46 countries provide an opportunity for direct interface and global academic exchange that enhances scholarship and the student experience.

UKZN – a multi-campus residential university located in Durban and Pietermaritzburg – is structured on a College model with four Colleges, ie the College of Agriculture, Engineering and Science, College of Health Sciences, the College of Humanities and the College of Law and Management Studies. Each College comprises four to six cognate schools and offer a comprehensive range of about 2 000 undergraduate and postgraduate programmes across the five campuses of Edgewood, Howard College, Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine, Pietermaritzburg and Westville.

For further information contact: Sejal Desai, Media Liaison Officer on desaisej@ukzn.ac.za