The University of Melbourne remains Australia’s highest-ranked institution, coming in 37th in the latest Times Higher Education World University Rankings report.
The university rose to 37th place in the 2026 rankings, up from 39th last year and above the University of Sydney and Monash.
The report said the University of Melbourne’s rise from last year was led by improvements in teaching reputation and research reputation.
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Five other Australian institutions were listed in the top 100 worldwide. The University of Sydney was ranked at 53; Monash University came in at 58 and Australian National University was 73rd. The University of New South Wales was ranked 79th; and The University of Queensland was 80th.
Schools were ranked on a variety of factors, including the quality of teaching, their research, their ability to contribute to innovation and their standing internationally.
Emma Johnston, the vice-chancellor of the University of Melbourne, welcomed the news and said the school offered “unparalleled diversity of expertise and experience”.
“Our responsibility as Australia’s leading global public university is to nurture the next generation of thinkers, researchers and leaders needed for a more resilient and sustainable future,” Johnston said in a statement.
Phil Baty, the Times Higher Education’s chief global affairs officer, said in a statement this year’s rankings showed a shift in the balance of power from the “long-established, dominant institutions of the West to rising stars of the East”.
“The US and much of western Europe have suffered significant lost ground in the world rankings, while east Asian nations, led by China, continue to thrive and surge up the table,” Baty said.
“But Australia is in a unique position, emerging strongly from stymied internationalisation during Covid to buck the western trend and see solid improvements in the rankings this year.
“There’s a real opportunity for Australia, and indeed New Zealand, to capitalise on the shifting dynamics of global higher education – to strengthen its international talent attraction and to increase collaboration with thriving South-east Asian institutions and universities in Asia more widely.”
A familiar slate of British schools and American Ivy League institutions were featured at the top of the rankings. The University of Oxford topped the list for the 10th consecutive year, while the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, Princeton University and University of Cambridge were also in the top five.
It came after the QS World University Rankings placed 10 Australian institutions in its top 100. The University of Melbourne was ranked 19th in that tally, which also included the University of Western Australia, Adelaide University and University of Technology Sydney.
The University of Melbourne has not gone without criticism in recent months, becoming the first to formally expel pro-Palestinian student activists in June.
Victoria’s deputy information commissioner also found the university breached the state’s Privacy and Data Protection Act when it used its wifi network to surveil students and staff holding a pro-Palestinian protest last year. In response, the university said it could have provided “clearer active notice” about its use of wifi location data but maintained it was “reasonable and proportionate in the circumstances”.
