The University of South Africa (UNISA) closed the 2025 academic year, reporting sustained performance excellence in both its academic and administrative functions, marking the end of a five-year administration cycle from 2021 to 2025.
Among the key highlights for 2025 was Unisa’s announcement that it achieved a financially unqualified audit opinion for the 2024 financial year. This outcome continues the institution’s track record of clean financial reporting, following unqualified audit opinions for the 2021, 2022 and 2023 financial years. The 2025 audit is currently underway and is expected to be reported in 2026.
A financially unqualified audit opinion confirms that an institution’s financial statements are free from material misstatements and are presented in line with the applicable reporting framework. According to the university, the outcome reflects ongoing financial prudence, transparency and sound governance. Unisa said the result also demonstrates the work of its financial and administrative leadership and its adherence to accountability standards.
Unisa’s financial position has continued to strengthen over the period. The university’s reserves grew from R8 billion in 2018 to more than R22 billion in 2025. The institution said this growth reflects an effective long-term investment strategy, strong risk management practices and a focus on sustainability. The reserves are intended to support future resilience and the expansion of Unisa’s academic mandate.
While celebrating the consistent unqualified audit outcomes, the university has indicated that it remains focused on achieving a clean audit opinion, which includes compliance with performance reporting and legislative requirements in addition to sound financial statements.
The past five years have also been marked by significant changes following challenges faced at the start of the current administration. When Professor Puleng LenkaBula assumed office as Principal and Vice Chancellor in January 2021, the institution faced issues including strained labour relations, an unstable institutional culture, underdeveloped information technology systems, declining international rankings and scrutiny through the Ministerial Task Team and Independent Assessor processes.
Despite the disruption caused by the Covid 19 pandemic, Unisa demonstrated resilience during this period. The Council on Higher Education acknowledged the institution’s response in its five-year institutional audit report released in June 2023, commending Unisa for its academic delivery and performance during the pandemic.
Since 2021, the university reports improvements in academic stability, Senate cohesion and research output. In 2022, Unisa’s engineering disciplines were ranked joint first in South Africa by the Times Higher Education subject rankings. In the same year, the university ranked first nationally for the production of PhD graduates.
The number of National Research Foundation rated researchers has steadily increased, rising from 240 in 2022 to 320 in 2025. The proportion of academic staff holding doctoral qualifications grew from 39 percent in 2021 to over 67 percent by 2024. Unisa also reported improvements in its ICT infrastructure and the acquisition of an experimental farm in Bronkhorstspruit in 2024 to support agricultural and veterinary education.
In 2025, Unisa said it improved its global standing across several ranking systems. The Webometrics Global Web Ranking placed the university 732nd globally, up from 797th in 2024. The university also improved its position in the UI GreenMetric rankings and featured in the Times Higher Education University Impact Rankings and the Academic Ranking of World Universities for selected subjects.
Nationally, Unisa recorded strong growth in research outputs. In 2024, the institution achieved a 42.7 percent increase in awarded research subsidy units, alongside significant growth in journal articles, books and conference proceedings.
Unisa said it remains committed to its social justice mandate of broadening access to higher education while strengthening academic excellence, governance and institutional sustainability.
