Our global ranking & awards
Each year, VU receives global and national recognition.
Our rankings – both international and Australian – reflect our focus on career-readiness, practical learning, inclusion, opportunity and excellence.
Times Higher Education World University Rankings
VU is ranked in the top 2% of universities worldwide in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings.
The ranking is a list of the best universities globally and is the only international performance ranking to evaluate universities across their core missions of teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook.
In other THE rankings:
- VU is ranked in the world's top 100 universities under 50 years old, in the Times Higher Education Young University Rankings.
- VU ranked 54th in 2018 and 55th in 2017 for the Times Higher Education Asia Pacific University Rankings, moving up to 51st in 2019.
Our engineering and computer science subjects also ranked among the state's best in the 2019 World University Subject Rankings.
In 2021, our rankings improved dramatically in three of our focus areas: Business Eco, Life Sciences, and Psychology.
Times Higher Education Impact Rankings
THE Impact Rankings capture universities’ impact on society, based on the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – a framework of 17 aims for sustainable development.
In the 2022 rankings, we had some great successes.
Based on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, VU is ranked:
- 13th for Clean Water and Sanitation (SDG6) out of 634 globally ranked institutions
- 32nd for Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions (SDG16) out of 809 globally ranked institutions
- 41st for Quality Education (SDG4) out of 1180 globally ranked institutions
- 65th for Partnership for the Goals (SDG17) out of 1438 globally ranked institutions
Read more about our focus on UN sustainability goals.
Global rankings
VU's courses are in-demand internationally, with many students studying our degrees through international university partners in China, India, Malaysia, Singapore and Sri Lanka.
ARWU Global Ranking of Academic Subjects
The 2022 ARWU (Academic Ranking of World Universities, also known as the ShanghaiRanking) ranks universities in 54 subjects.
VU ranks for subject areas:
- sports science schools and departments – 7th out of 300 globally ranked institutions (2022)
- automation and control – 51-75 out of 200
- hospitality and tourism management – 151-200 out of 300
- electrical and electronic engineering – 201-300 out of 500
- computer science and engineering – 151-200 out of 500.
QS World University Rankings
We jumped five bands from #601-650 in the world in 2020 to #551-560 in 2021 in the QS World University Rankings, placing us in the top half of all ranked institutions. The report highlights VU’s improvements in the categories of 'research citations' and 'international students'.
Research rankings
VU researchers were recognised for their global standing in the latest Australian Research Council Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) results.
VU achieved:
- the highest rating of 5 (well above world standard) in six research areas
- a rating of 4 (above world standard) in nine areas
- a rating of 3 (world standard) in thirteen areas.
Read more about our research excellence.
World-class research areas
The Academic Ranking of World Universities (ShanghaiRankings) ranked Victoria University:
- in the world’s top 7 places to study Sport Science (take a look at why we're leaders in the field of sport)
- #35 in the world for Hospitality and Tourism Management research.
We are also ranked 19th globally accounting-education research in the Brigham Young university research rankings, making us the top-ranked Australian university in this area.
QILT Employer Satisfaction Survey
QILT Employer Satisfaction Survey
The independent Australian Government funded QILT Employer Satisfaction Survey measures more than 3000 employer views on the attributes of recent graduates to assess the quality of Australia’s higher education sector.
In the 2022 QILT Employer Satisfaction Survey, VU graduates are:
- ^number 1 in Australia for technical skills (the application of technical and professional knowledge and standards) according to Australian employers
- in the top 10 in Australia for overall employer satisfaction
- number 1 in Australia for foundation skills (general literacy, numeracy and communication skills).
Our rankings in Australia (as assessed by employers) in 2019–21 included the impressive:
- 1st for employability skills
- =2nd for foundation skills
- =4th for collaborative skills
- =5th for technical skills.
Our rankings in Victoria (as assessed by employers) in 2019–21 included the impressive:
- 1st for employability skills
- 1st for collaborative skills
- 1st for technical skills
- 1st for overall satisfaction.
QILT Student Experience Survey
The Australian Government’s authoritative QILT Student Experience Survey (SES) is the only comprehensive survey targeting how satisfied current Australian students are with their student experience.
Our rankings in Australia in 2020 (as assessed by students) included:
- 1st in Victoria and 3rd in Australia for learner engagement
- 5th in Australia for skills development.