Australian Universities Suffer Fall In Global Rankings

Almost 70 per cent of Australian universities have suffered a drop in higher education’s annual global rankings, in what is being called a “wake up call” for the sector.

The 2026 QS World University Rankings, collated by the global higher education specialist Quacquarelli Symonds, released on Thursday. The list draws from millions of academic papers and more than 120,000 academics from universities across 106 countries to rank universities on the basis of reputation, teaching and learning, research impact, internationalisation and sustainability.

The University of Melbourne remains the top-ranked university in the country, but has slipped seven places to 19th, with the University of New South Wales right behind it in 20th place. The University of Sydney lost its place in the top 20, and now sits at number 25.

Of Australia’s 36 ranked universities, 25 suffered a decline from last year, with only seven improving their scores.

“Over the past five years, we have seen the reputation of Australian universities gradually decreasing,” said Angel Calderon, director of strategic insights at RMIT, and member of the rankings advisory board.

“Organisational restructuring, staff movements, operational deficits and any kind of disruption are likely to influence institutional perceptions elsewhere.”

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology maintained their top position for the 14th consecutive year, followed by Imperial College London, Stanford University, the University of Oxford, and Harvard University.

“The inconvenient truth is that reputation is an issue which continues to adversely impact Australian universities’ performance in global rankings,” Calderon said.

“The relative decline in standing for both the academic and employer reputation measures has been in the making for several years. Here lies a key opportunity for the collective of Australian universities to ensure learners are better supported.

“The results are a wake-up call to Australia … our universities must adapt by providing quality education to the communities they serve if they want to remain competitive, relevant and boost national productivity.”

“Turbulent year” for Australian universities 

Despite this, nine Australian universities ranked in the top 100, ranking fifth globally with 25 per cent making the list.

The changes come amid the heightened politicisation of international students, with the Australian government recently having discussed limiting the number of students coming into the country to study.

“International students have been drawn into a wider national debate in Australia around migration and housing, where they are sometimes perceived as contributing to systemic pressures,” said CEO of QS, Jessica Turner.

“In what has been a turbulent year for Australian higher education, universities are calling for sustainable research funding models and greater policy certainty around international education.

“These are critical to safeguarding and strengthening one of Australia’s greatest national assets, particularly as the country faces growing competition from across the APAC region.”