Every year, Times Higher Education releases its World University Rankings, a comprehensive ranking of institutions around the world based on five key performance indicators: teaching, research environment, research quality, industry, and international outlook.
The 2024 rankings have now been released and include 1,904 universities across 108 countries and regions, including Australia. In fact, six Australian universities managed to crack the top 100.
Read more: What’s Actually Behind University Rankings?
The six Australian institutions in the top 100 include:
The University of Melbourne – #37
Monash University – #54
The University of Sydney – #60
Australian National University – #67
The University of Queensland – #70
UNSW – #84
A number of other Australian education providers ranked highly, including The University of Adelaide (#111), The University of Western Australia (#143), University of Technology Sydney (#148) and Macquarie University (#180).
Despite Australia continuing to receive global recognition for its education system, certain bodies have flagged concern over this year’s rankings. According to The Guardian, nearly each one of Australia’s top 10 universities has dropped in the rankings since 2022, including the top three. The University of Melbourne fell three places, Monash University fell 10 places, and The University of Sydney ranked six places lower than it did last year.
Times Higher Education Global Affairs Officer Phil Baty said that Australia and New Zealand’s stringent lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic likely contributed to the lowered rankings.
“While Australia is one of the world’s leading university sectors for attracting international talent and collaboration, the relative isolation of the country during the pandemic is showing up in the data, to detrimental effect on universities’ ranking positions,” said Baty.
Read more: QS World University Rankings 2024: Three Australian Universities Make The Top 20
