If Australia’s performance in the latest Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) rankings could be summarised into an emoji, we reckon it’d be this:
💅💅💅
That’s right, Australia smashed it in 2024’s QS global university rankings of 1500 universities around the world based on analysis and insights from more than 240,000 academics and 17.5 million academic papers – at a scale we’ve never seen before.
Australia’s top-ranked institution, The University of Melbourne, rose 19 places from last year to place 14th in the world, while New South Wales’ two biggest universities – The University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney) and The University of Sydney – broke into the world’s top 20 for the first time ever to achieve joint 19th place.
Another 33 Aussie universities dramatically improved their overall positions on the global league table.
Monash University rose 15 places from 57th to 42nd, The University of Queensland rose 7 places from 50th to 43rd, and The University of Western Australia rose 18 places from 90th to 72nd.
Breaking into the top 100 was The University of Adelaide, which rose 20 places to 89th, while the University of Technology Sydney jumped a staggering 47 spots to rank 90th.
Not bad.
So what makes Aussie universities so successful in the global rankings?
Well, they’d need to be performing well in QS’ ranking methodology, which assesses universities by:
- Sustainability
- Faculty-student ratio
- Number of overseas students
- Proportion of overseas faculty
- The institution’s citations
- And reputation among academics and employers
It’s also worth mentioning that QS overhauled its ranking methodology by introducing sustainability and employment outcomes into its assessments of universities, which suggests that Aussie universities are kicking ass on those fronts too.
So if you’re wondering which university could be good for your child, these rankings can be a good starting point.
