THE Rankings demonstrate Unisa's unceasingly enhanced academic agenda

In its 2026 subject rankings, Times Higher Education (THE), the authoritative and globally referenced source of information on higher education, reveals that Unisa got ranked in ten subject areas globally, which reasserts the university’s commitment to providing quality higher education. The subjects that the university got ranked in are Arts and Humanities, Business and Economics, Computer Science, Educational Studies, Engineering, Law, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, Psychology, and Social Sciences.  

Through the information that THE provides on institutions of higher learning, this publication has been assisting institutions to achieve excellence by making informed decisions that will define their futures. Therefore, the publication produces university rankings to assess university performance on the global stage and to provide a resource for readers to understand the different missions and successes of higher education institutions.

Additional to the requirements applied for the overall World University Rankings, there are further requirements for eleven subject rankings, including Medical and Health. Firstly, the weights are recalibrated for each subject area to address their nature. Secondly, different publication thresholds and staff thresholds apply for the various subject areas to address these areas’ nature.

While Unisa’s ranked subjects retained the same ranking band or improved, scores in most subjects’ performance pillars improved. For Arts and Humanities, Unisa was ranked ninth out of 11 South African universities and second of four open distance and e-learning (ODeL) universities. By indicator, the university achieved scores in the upper quartile worldwide for research influence (98,6), research excellence (98,3), and top half scores for institutional income, doctorate to bachelor ratio, and doctorate to staff ratio.

For Business and Economics, it was ranked tenth out of 12 local universities, fourth of seven ODeL universities and a top half score for research influence. And, for Computer Science, while it is in the top ten locally, it was also ranked fourth among ODeL universities with top half scores for institutional income and international staff.

Additionally, for Education Studies, Unisa was ranked ninth out of 12 South African universities and fourth of five ODeL universities with an upper quartile score of 92,8 for research influence and top half scores for research excellence and research productivity. With an increased number of universities ranked for Law, Unisa was ranked tenth locally and third among the ODeL universities with top half scores for research influence and institutional income.

Among others, its score in performance pillars for Life Sciences improved while the university was also ranked first among four ODeL universities for Physical Sciences, also achieving an upper quartile score for institutional income (93,2) on this subject. Also, the university’s top half scores for research influence and research excellence, among others, demonstrate its heightening academic excellence.

Unisa’s best performance was once again in Engineering, the subject area with the most ranked universities, wherein its score in most performance pillars improved. The institution was ranked seventh among ten local universities and first among five ODeL universities. It performed excellently to equal the top score for institutional income (100,0), also achieving other scores in the upper quartile for research quality metrics such as research productivity (98,9), research excellence (92,5) and research influence (88,1). The university also performed well in research quality metrics such as research strength and citation impact.

Since her tenure at Unisa in January 2021, and having recently commenced her second term in January 2026, Professor Puleng LenkaBula, the first woman to serve as Unisa’s Principal and Vice-Chancellor, has introduced ten catalytic niche areas to activate and enhance the university’s academic agenda, as well as to enhance academics' experiences as engaged scholars who can impact society. These identified niche areas also serve as efforts to unceasingly yield multiple improvements in the university’s teaching and learning, research and innovations, and engaged scholarship.

* By Nancy Legodi, acting Senior Journalist, Department of Institutional Advancement, with additional reporting by Herman Visser, Department of Institutional Intelligence