University Rankings: Why they Matter and What They Mean to You

When searching for a university’s credentials, it’s easy to get confused with the abundance of rankings. Have you ever wondered what the figures mean to you and your future? We’re here to break down what rankings mean and how they can offer you a better path to success.

Rankings, rankings, rankings - how do they work?

As the name suggests, university rankings are to rate universities based on a combination of different metrics to give an overview of how a university performs when compared to others.

Rankings look at a university’s performance from different aspects, including teaching quality, research output, number of citations, academic reputation, student ratio, employability, and international outlook. It gives you a great starting point to identify the top universities and understand which is best for you.

When weighing up your choices, it’s important to understand that different ranking systems often adopt different methodologies. This means they don’t always look at the same metrics and may assign different priorities to each of the performance indicators to come up with an overall score. This is why you see so many different ranking systems when you Google “university rankings” and why you may find the same university places higher in one set of rankings than others.

While there are countless ranking structures on the internet, the three major international ones are the QS World University Rankings, the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings and the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU).

Where does UNSW stand in the global rankings?

With thousands of international universities being evaluated, UNSW ranked 43rd overall in the latest QS World University Rankings 2022. With a mammoth research community of more than 8,000 scholars, UNSW also ranked 41st in the world for academic reputation in the same survey.

UNSW has excelled in the 2021 ShanghaiRanking’s Global Rankings of Academic Subjects, appearing in 52 of the 54 subjects ranked for the fourth consecutive year. In the latest QS World University Rankings by Subject 2021, 21 UNSW subjects in the top 50 globally and four at number one in Australia.

When the place you choose to study shines on your CV, rankings for student employability automatically factor in. UNSW graduates are among the most employable students in the world, gaining 27th place in the QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2020. As a bonus, they also earn the highest median salary among all the graduates of Sydney-based and Go8 universities, according to the QILT Graduate Outcome Survey, 2020.

With our inspiring teaching approaches that encourage students to innovate and the dedicated Founders Program that supports students to build entrepreneurship skills, UNSW is also revealed as the top institution for producing Australian start-up founders by Startup Muster 2018.

What do rankings mean to you?

How can you make use of these figures to choose the right path for you?

If you have broad interests and are open to study in different fields, it is good to start with browsing the subject rankings to see if you are interested in any of UNSW’s strength subjects. The top-ranked subjects simply mean UNSW has better resources than most of the other ranked universities, not only in Australia but also in the world. By studying these subjects at UNSW, you can enjoy a world-class learning environment, as well as access to valuable international collaboration and industrial opportunities.

If you want to set yourself up for a successful future career from the first day of university, it is smart to look at the employability rankings and dig into what makes UNSW graduates so competitive in the job market. And the secret is – the Student Academic & Career Success (SACS), UNSW’s hub that focuses on enhancing student employability by providing workshops, programs and personal advice on career development and interview skills.

Have we mentioned that SACS also has an exclusive internship program for international students? You won’t want to miss out on the Professional Development Program, which is designed to familiarise international students with Australian workplaces. The program contains 3-day workshops and a practical group project. Upon completion, you will be more confident in diving into the real job market.

Be sure to keep in mind that your dream employer is also keen to recruit the most incredible students from the best universities. UNSW has strong partnerships with leading corporates and industry organisations and offers work placement in some big-name companies and firms.

The career development support UNSW provides is available to all current students and UNSW alumni. That means you can come to our professional team of SACS for career support and advice, even after you graduate.