University of Auckland retains top 100 place in world university rankings

The rankings provide an authoritative and comparative evaluation of the world’s top 1,300 universities. To put the rankings in context, out of a conservative estimate of 30,000+ universities in the world, nearly 6,500 were nominated for evaluation in the QS rankings. This places Auckland in the top 0.28 percent of universities internationally. And, as the only Aotearoa New Zealand university in the top 100, it remains the No. 1 ranked university in this country and in the top seven in Australasia.

In the measurement criteria used to determine rankings, the University has improved its performance in International Faculty (88th), Employer Reputation (139th) and Citations per Faculty (238th). Despite a small drop, its highest indicator is Academic Reputation ranked at 61st in the world. It also dropped in International Students (92nd) and Faculty Student ratio (599th).

Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) and Provost, Professor John Morrow, says that these are very good results and in fact the University had moved up one point from 2021. Unfortunately, in the competitive Top 100, that was not sufficient to hold last year's place of 81st equal.

“The University of Auckland was obviously not alone in being affected by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. Our change in performance in student/staff ratio and international ratios reflects changes that have taken place in the global higher education sector as a result of Covid.

“It is to the credit of our staff – both academic and professional – that we have upheld our excellence in teaching, learning and research, and maintained our international networks to see this university still firmly placed in the world’s top 100.

“Our staff and students, alumni, supporters and stakeholders can be justly proud of their association with the University of Auckland and know that we continue as leaders in the global tertiary sector.”

The world rankings were announced on Tuesday 8 June 8pm GMT at the virtual QS EduData Summit. This global event is being held to consider how educators can use data to understand the impacts of new educational policy and work towards international improvement of teaching and learning outcomes to address digital divide and technological inequalities. It is being delivered in partnership with the University of Auckland.

QS Quacquarelli Symonds is the world’s leading provider of services, analytics, and insight to the global higher education sector. Its mission is to enable motivated people anywhere in the world to fulfil their potential through educational achievement, international mobility and career development. The QS World University Rankings portfolio, inaugurated in 2004, has grown to become the world’s most popular source of comparative data about university performance.