Times Higher Education publishes dodgy university rankings for Australian universities.

THE Times university awards

Times Higher Education (THE) publishes a world university ranking that includes Australian universities. Each rating demonstrates how prestigious a uni is regarded by overseas academics.

THE University Rankings for Australia: 2025

Just ahead of the 2025 academic year, here are the latest ratings for the top universities in Australia.

Aust rank World rank University State
1 39 University of Melbourne VIC
2 58 Monash University VIC
3 61 University of Sydney NSW
4 73 Australian National University ACT
5 77 University of Queensland QLD
6 83 UNSW Sydney NSW
7 128 University of Adelaide SA
8 149 University of Western Australia WA
9 154 UTS NSW
10 178 Macquarie University NSW
11 201-250 Deakin University VIC
12 201-250 QUT QLD
12 201-250 University of Wollongong NSW
12 201-250 Curtin University WA
12 201-250 La Trobe University VIC
16 251-300 RMIT University VIC
16 251-300 Swinburne VIC
16 251-300 University of Newcastle NSW
16 251-300 University of Tasmania TAS
16 251-300 Flinders University SA
21 301-350 Griffith University QLD
21 301-350 University of South Australia SA
21 301-350 Western Sydney University NSW
24 351-400 Edith Cowan University WA
24 351-400 UniSQ QLD
24 351-400 Australian Catholic University NSW
24 351-400 Bond University QLD
24 351-400 Charles Darwin University NT
29 401-500 Federation University Australia VIC
29 401-500 James Cook University QLD
29 401-500 Murdoch University WA
29 401-500 University of Canberra ACT
33 501-600 Victoria University VIC
33 501-600 Central Queensland University QLD
33 501-600 Southern Cross University NSW
36 601-800 University of the Sunshine Coast QLD
37 801-1000 Charles Sturt University NSW
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Problems with Times Higher Ed

Times Higher Education (THE) publishes Australian university rankings using a composite performance measure. Rankings are based on research publications and academic prestige. The largest components are "Citations of journal articles" and "Research prestige".

The rankings demonstrate how highly a given university is regarded among academics. To produce world rankings, THE surveys many thousands of academics worldwide each year. THE rankings are comparable to QS and Shanghai rankings.

While THE’s survey is more extensive than U.S. News... it still falls prey to the inherent statistical flaws and response biases of reputation scoring.

Ranking Components

ACADEMIC RESEARCH AND INCOME (70%)

Citations of journal papers 30%
Research prestige among academics 18%
Journal papers per academic 6%
Research income per academic 6%
Industry income per academic 3%
% of journal articles with a foreign co-author 3%
Ratio of international to domestic staff 3%
Institutional income per academic 2%

TEACHING PRESTIGE AND STUDENT RATIOS (22%)

Teaching prestige among academics 15%
Academic-to-student ratio 5%
Ratio of international to domestic students 3%

DOCTORAL PROGRAM SIZE (8%)

Doctorate graduates per academic 6%
Doctorate-to-bachelor degree ratio 2%

Value of THE University Rankings

For students, THE rankings are useful for quantifying how much regard society (including employers) may hold for a degree from a particular university. If academics hold an institution in high regard, obtaining a degree from that institution may help your career by conferring status.

  • The rankings are based on 13 measures. Almost 70% of a university's rating is determined by researcher output, income and affiliations.
  • Teaching prestige is also a factor, accounting for 15%. This measures teaching quality as perceived by academics in other institutions, which is highly correlated with overall prestige.
  • There is a strong emphasis on doctoral programs, with over 8% of a university's score based on the number of doctorates awarded.

Misleading Statements

Time Higher Education claims to provide the only global university performance tables to judge research-led universities across all their core missions: teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook. The publisher also claims to provide the most comprehensive and balanced comparisons, which are trusted by students, academics, university leaders, industry and governments.

Our advice to students is to not trust the Times Higher Education claims nor their rankings. The rankings have not been constructed with students in mind.

  • The teaching prestige measure is flawed because it only considers the opinions of academics. How does an academic from one university have any great insight into teaching standards in another?
  • Despite its flaws, it is odd that teaching prestige is given a lower rating than research prestige (15% versus 18%). The weightings just tilt the balance further towards academic research.
  • The heavy weighting on doctoral program size is also strange. Why does this indicate better performance and why it is given a heavy weighting? THE claims that undergraduates tend to value working in a rich environment that includes postgraduates. You would think undergraduates care more about the quality of services delivered to them.

More Australian Uni Rankings