The University of Cape Town (UCT) remains the top university on the continent in this year’s World University Rankings, after moving up 24 places compared to last year.

The university was well-placed at 167^th on the Times Higher Education global performance table, which ranked 1 904 universities.

Published each year, the ranking assesses global institutions across various performance indicators.

Earlier this year UCT once again took the top place in Africa in the Centre for World University Rankings, the Quacquarelli Symonds World University Rankings and the ShanghaiRanking’s Academic Ranking of World Universities.

UCT is also the top university on the continent in the US News & World Report Best Global Universities Rankings.

UCT Vice-Chancellor interim Emeritus Professor Daya Reddy explains that the results are a testament to the outstanding work and commitment of the university community.

“The deep disciplinary expertise, together with the great, and rapidly growing, interdisciplinary work across our academic departments, and the geographical advantage of our location, all allow us to make valuable contributions to knowledge that has an impact on our continent, and beyond – contributing to the growth of African and global knowledge,” adds Reddy.

UCT says its greatest strength is research quality, based on the number of times a piece of research is cited. UCT ranked 148^th, globally, in this regard.

In teaching, UCT’s scores increased in four of the five metrics and the university was ranked at 343^rd, 37 places higher than in the previous year.