Australia has many excellent universities and they are extremely popular with international students. Australia is the 3rd most popular destination for international study in the world, following the USA and the UK. Education is a very important export for Australia and is actually the third biggest export sector behind Iron and Coal. Let’s take a look at the 5 highest ranked Universities.

5. The University of Queensland ranked 48th in the world in 2019. UQ is mainly based in state capital Brisbane and has been responsible for a number of recent research innovations, such as the cervical cancer vaccine.

4. The University of New South Wales, located in Sydney, retained its position of 45th in the World University Rankings in 2019, and is a founding member of the Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive universities.

3. The University of Sydney climbed eight places to rank 42nd in the world in 2019, and is the oldest of these top Australian universities (established in 1850). Sydney was Australia’s highest-ranked entrant in the QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2018 at fourth in the world – meaning it is a great uni* if you want to get a job!

2. Up two places to rank 39th in the world in 2019, the University of Melbourne achieved positions in the global top 20 for its reputation with both academics and employers. The university has a very diverse student body, with nearly 40 percent of its 50,270 students coming from outside Australia.

1 . Continuing to rank first among the top Australian universities, Australian National University ranked 24th in the world in 2019 and claims one of the country’s highest scores for research impact (citations per faculty member) and percentage of international student indicators. ANU is located in Australia’s capital city, Canberra.

*Australians often say ‘uni’ instead of ‘university’ when speaking informally.