University of the Free State, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences vs University of Pretoria: which trading school is better?
As of November 5, 2026, University of the Free State, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences leads University of Pretoria by 0.6 point in the 2027 trading and investing school ranking: #387 internationally against #404. The gap comes mainly from the Trust and Teaching pillars. University of Pretoria does better on Visibility. On Student reviews, they are level.
2027 edition · updated November 5, 2026 · next updates planned for December 2026 and January 2027 · Ranking methodology
All 25 criteria, side by side
| Criterion | University of the Free State, Faculty of Economic and Management SciencesProgramme rated: Consecutive Master's Degree Programme in International Finance | University of PretoriaProgramme rated: MSc specialising in Financial Engineering |
|---|---|---|
| Score out of 100 | 67.0 | 66.4 |
| International rank | #387 | #404 |
| Rank in South Africa | #4 of 33 | #5 of 33 |
| Trust · 10 % | 4.39/5 | 3.47/5 |
| 1. Regulator warningsscale | 5/5 | 5/5 |
| 2. Registered company and agescale | 5/5 | 5/5 |
| 3. Transparency: price, refunds, legal notice, contactscale | 3/5 | 2/5 |
| 4. Named, verifiable instructorsscale | 4/5 | 1/5 |
| 5. Honest marketing, no promise of profitscale | 4/5 | 4/5 |
| 6. Secure websitescale | 5/5 | 5/5 |
| 7. Protected domain (SPF, DMARC, headers)scale | 3/5 | 1/5 |
| Teaching · 20 % | 1.40/5 | 1.00/5 |
| 8. Curriculum qualityscale | 1/5 | 1/5 |
| 9. Real practicescale | 2/5 | 1/5 |
| 10. Mentoring and supportscale | 1/5 | 1/5 |
| 11. Cost per training hourscale | n/a | 1/5 |
| Student reviews · 20 % | 4.50/5 | 4.50/5 |
| 13. Student rating (Trustpilot and Google)scale | 4/5 | 4/5 |
| 14. Number of reviewsscale | 5/5 | 5/5 |
| 15. Suspicious review warningscale | n/a | n/a |
| 16. 12-month trendscale | n/a | n/a |
| Recognition and employability · 30 % | 3.27/5 | 2.91/5 |
| 12. Degree-granting programscale | 5/5 | 5/5 |
| 18. Degree recognized by a state or the professionscale | 4/5 | 4/5 |
| 25. Employability and career outcomesscale | 2/5 | 1/5 |
| 17. Institutional accreditationscale | 2/5 | 5/5 |
| 19. Labels and awardsscale | 1/5 | 1/5 |
| 20. Official partnersscale | 5/5 | 1/5 |
| Visibility · 20 % | 3.75/5 | 5.00/5 |
| 21. Domain agescale | 5/5 | 5/5 |
| 22. Websites linking to itscale | 3/5 | 5/5 |
| 23. Press mentions, Wikipedia pagescale | 5/5 | 5/5 |
| 24. Audience: social media and newsletterscale | 2/5 | – |
In green, the better of the two scores. “n/a”: not applicable, the criterion is left out of its pillar. “–”: criterion not yet assessed. The evidence and source for each score are on each school's listing.
University of the Free State, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences: full listingUniversity of Pretoria: full listing