Australia named world’s third-best higher education system in 2023 QS World University Rankings by Subject

Global higher education analyst QS Quacquarelli Symonds has today released the thirteenth edition of the QS World University Rankings by Subject*.

Australia is making a big impact in the largest-ever series of QS subject-specific rankings as the fourth-best represented country for overall number of entries.

The table below shows that Australia is among the top ten most represented countries in these rankings and boasts the second-best average number of entries per ranked university.

In the 2023 QS World University Rankings by Subject, 747 programmes at 39 Australian universities were independently assessed, with 131 programmes improving, 272 declining, and 314 remaining unchanged. Furthermore, 26 programmes ranked for the first time.

Australia also has a significant presence in the broad faculty areas table, with 108 entries across Arts & Humanities, Engineering & Technology, Life Sciences, Natural Sciences, and Social Sciences. While six entries improved, seven remained unchanged, and two ranked for the first time, the remainder 93 declined. This year’s movements among the broad faculty areas can be partially attributed to the inclusion of a fifth indicator, the International Research Network, which measures cross-border collaboration.

Considering the countries with the highest number of entries among the world’s top 50/100/200, Australia is the third best higher education system globally, as illustrated by Table 2 below.

Out of the top four study destinations (US, UK, Canada, and Australia), three have experienced a decline in this year's rankings, with only the UK bucking the trend by showing a positive change of +8.20. This calculation considers entries that have improved, declined, remained stable, and those that are newly featured. Among the top 10 countries for number of ranked entries, China (Mainland) has made the most significant year-on-year improvement, closely followed by South Korea.

With an outstanding 48 disciplines each ranked within the top 50 globally, The University of Melbourne and
The University of Sydney are on par in terms of academic excellence with Canada's University of British Columbia. Leading the pack —with 49 top 100 ranked disciplines— is the University of Toronto. The University of Queensland is tied with the University of Toronto and University of British Columbia, boasting the highest number of top 200 ranked disciplines at 50. Notably, Monash University follows closely behind as the next best-performing Australian institution, with 40 and 46 ranked disciplines in the top 100 and top 200, respectively. Looking at Table 2 below, it is evident that all four most represented Australian universities have lost ground in terms of year-on-year rank change. The University of Sydney experienced the most significant overall drop of nearly -46%, whereas The University of Melbourne recorded the smallest decline with just -6%.

Australia ranks among the world's top performers in research influence, with an impressive average score of 84.9 for citations per paper, tied with Denmark for the fourth-best result globally. Additionally, Australia has achieved the third-best average score of 78.7 for the H index, a measure of research productivity and impact. These outstanding results are a testament to Australia's unwavering commitment and investment in research excellence. Table 5 below presents the average scores for each indicator used in the QS methodology, where indicators scoring below the global average are indicated in grey.

QS World University Rankings by Subject 2023: Australian Universities Highlights

• Monash University lost its number 1 place for Pharmacy and Pharmacology, and it now ranks number 2, after Harvard university and before The University of Oxford. It remains among the world’s top 15 for Nursing and ranks 19th globally for Education. A team of scientists of the Monash University’s Biomedicine Discovery Institute, has recently made the news for discovering an enzyme that can convert air into electricity. The paper titled ‘Structural basis for bacterial energy extraction from atmospheric hydrogen’, was published in the journal Nature a few weeks ago, posits a theory with the potential to revolutionise the production of clean energy.
• Curtin University features across 29 academic disciplines and achieves its highest recognition in Engineering - Mineral & Mining, as the world’s second-best university. This year, it breaks among the top-30 also in Geology (26th) and Geophysics (29th). Curtin rises seven places in Earth & Marine Sciences reaching the 33rd place and in Petroleum Engineering, climbing to the 36th position.
• The University of Queensland ranks in 46 disciplines and is confirmed the world’s second-best institution for Sports-related subjects and is among the global top 5 in Engineering - Mineral & Mining. It ranks 20th globally in Environmental Sciences.
• UNSW Sydney features in 42 academic disciplines and remains among the world’s top 5 for Engineering - Mineral & Mining. It performs excellently in a related subject, Petroleum Engineering, rising the 13th place, the same position it occupies for Law, while it also makes the top 20 for Engineering - Civil & Structural, with a 16th place.
• The only other Australian university ranking among the world’s top 5 is The University of Sydney in Sports-related Subjects (4th). It boasts six disciplines among the top-20 and an equally impressive 29 among
  the top 50.
• The Australian National University breaks into the world’s top 10 in Archaeology and achieves the same rank (8th) also for Philosophy and Anthropology. It ranks 9th in Geography and has risen to the 10th position for Politics and International Studies. ANU’s excellence is not limited to Arts & Humanities and Social Sciences. It shines also in the Natural Sciences and has risen three places in Earth & Marine Science, Geology, and Geophysics reaching the 11th places in all these subjects. In total, ANU appears in 35 of the 54 subjects ranked by QS.
• The University of Western Australia’s top result is the 7th place in Engineering - Mineral & Mining. It appears 38 times across the tables, including nine times among the world’s top 50.
• The University of Adelaide best results are in two connected subjects: Petroleum Engineering (7th) and Engineering - Mineral & Mining (19th). It ranks among the world’s best in 41 disciplines.
• Deakin University ranks 7th globally in Sports-related Subjects and appears among the world’s top 50 in Nursing (32nd) and Education (38th). It appears 21 times across these tables.

Australia’s concentration of excellence is found in Environmental Sciences with 28 entries, led by the University of Queensland (20th globally) and in Education, with also 28 entries led by The University of Melbourne (12th) which also leads Medicine (24th), Agriculture & Forestry, led by The University of Queensland (19th) and Biological Sciences, also led by The University of Melbourne (38th).

QS Senior Vice President Ben Sowter said: “Australia is home to 7% of the world’s top 50 and top 100 ranked subjects, the third-highest proportion among locations ranked, thanks in large part to the exceptional breadth of quality boasted by its universities. Additionally, 25% of Australian entries rank among the top 50”.

Sowter added: “It is no surprise that Australia is home to two of the world’s most-ranked universities, nor that these universities are home to an exceptionally high volume of top-tier subjects. However, this does not just suggest an overwhelming quantity of entries, it is a testament to the quality of Australia’s higher education several of its institutions also boast some of the world’s highest concentrations of world-class programmes.”

Highlights

• US institutions lead in 32 subjects. Harvard University is the strongest-performing institution, ranking first in 14 subjects, two more than last year.
• British universities top 15 subject tables, with the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge leading in four and two subjects respectively.  
• ETH Zurich is continental Europe’s top university, achieving number-one spots in three subjects.

• Australia has the fourth most ranked subjects and is among the world’s three most impactful research locations, according to H-index.
• China (Mainland) adds the second-most subjects. It boasts the fifth-highest number of top-50 programs (125).
• Canada’s University of Toronto boasts the world’s most top-50 subjects, with 48.
• Japan’s systemic decline continues, with 43% of its universities falling down the table while 8% improve.

The rankings, compiled by global higher education analysts QS Quacquarelli Symonds, provide independent comparative analysis on the performance of more than 15,700 individual university programmes, taken by students at 1594 universities which can be found in 93 locations across the world, across 54 academic disciplines and five broad Faculty Areas.1 They are part of the annual QS World University Rankings portfolio, which was consulted over 120 million times in 2022, and covered 117,000 times by media and institutions.   

Methodology       

QS use five key metrics to compile the subject rankings. The precise weighting of each metric varies by subject to reflect differing publication cultures across disciplines. For example, research performance, based on the analysis of the bibliometric database Scopus/Elsevier, is deemed to be a stronger indicator of institutional strength in Medicine, where the discipline is highly reliant on dissemination of research, than it is in Performing Arts, where the discipline is more vocational in nature. 

Detailed methodological information can be found at https://www.TopUniversities.com/subject-rankings/methodology.