Your annual insight into Australian university ratings
A 2019 report concluded that independent rankings are an important factor for students when deciding on a university, and prospective students will often associate good university rankings with quality education.
The Good Universities Guide is Australia's most trusted resource on higher education. For over 20 years, it’s been a point of reference for students wanting to make well-informed choices when it comes to the right course, the right provider and ultimately the right career for them. With the release of the 2020 edition of the annual Guide comes a fresh batch of ratings, which provide independent five-star ratings across 14 relevant categories.
The newly released rankings are created using government resources, student and graduate experience surveys. The ratings are divided into three broad categories: The Student Experience, Graduate Outcomes and Characteristics.
These rankings are a starting point that can be used to gain comparative insights into the varying strengths and characteristics of each institution. For example, some will prioritise courses with a higher expected graduate salary, whereas others are more concerned with the student support on offer at the university. Many students have shared that they are more likely to select a university that has employer links with their industry.
If you’re working with a student who is the first in their family to pursue further study, the First-Generation rating category highlights the proportion of domestic students at a university whose parents’ education is known and did not exceed Year 12.
The table below gives an overview of this year’s Good Universities Guide ratings, along with the top performer in each category.
| Rating type | Definition | Top University |
|---|---|---|
| Social Equity | The proportion of domestic students enrolling at each university from low socioeconomic or disadvantaged backgrounds | CQUniversity |
| Student Demand | Where high-achieving students choose to study compares the proportion of commencing students with high ATAR scores at each university | The University of Melbourne and UNSW |
| Student:Teacher Ratio | The number of students per teaching staff member | Bond University |
| First Generation | The proportion of domestic students commencing a bachelor degree whose parents' education is known and did not exceed Year 12 | Bond University |
| Learner Engagement | The proportion of students who felt they were engaged with learning in their institution | Bond University |
| Overall Experience | The proportion of students who were satisfied with the overall quality of their educational experience | The University of Notre Dame Australia |
| Learning Resources | The proportion of students who were satisfied with the learning resources provided by their institution | Bond University |
| Skills Development | The proportion of students who were satisfied with the skill development they experienced through their studies | Bond University |
| Student Support | The proportion of students who were satisfied with the support they received from their institution | Bond University |
| Teaching Quality | The proportion of students who were satisfied with the quality of teaching they experienced | Bond University |
| Starting Salary | The median salary of graduates from different universities | Charles Darwin University and The University of Southern Queensland |
| Full-Time Employment | The employment rates of graduates from different universities | Charles Sturt University |
| Student Retention | A university's retention of domestic students through to a second year of study | Bond University |
| Staff Qualifications | The proportion of staff who hold a masters or doctoral degree | The Australian National University |
credit: The Good Universities Guide 2020
Visit The Good Universities Guide website to view a complete list of 2020 rankings and ratings of Australian universities.