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NEWS
ANU makes rankings history
University reaches new heights for an Australian institution on the global stage.
The Australian National University has become the nation’ s first to crack the world’ s top 20 higher-education institutions, as judged by QS World University Rankings.
In the latest ratings, released in September, ANU climbed six spots on its 2014 result, increasing the gap between itself and Australia’ s other leading universities in the index.
While ANU was making history, the
University of Melbourne was taking a tumble, down nine places from its 2014 rank of 33rd, to 42nd spot.
The University of Sydney also fell in the rankings, from 37th to 45th place, while UNSW and the University of Queensland followed closely behind as they shared the 46th overall placing.
UNSW was the only other institution in Australia’ s top five to improve its position, rising from 48th in the 2014 rankings.
ANU vice-chancellor professor Ian Young said that while rankings would inevitably move around from year to year, the latest result for his university was a“ great endorsement of the hard work and commitment of our staff and students, who all contribute to making ANU one of best places in the world to study and conduct research”.
Boston’ s Massachusetts Institute of Technology( MIT), meanwhile, retained its stronghold on the world number one spot in the QS index with an overall score of 100. Neighbouring Harvard regained second spot this year – it placed fourth in 2014 and second in 2013 – while the UK’ s University of Cambridge tied for third place with Stanford University.
Other leading Australian Universities in the rankings were Monash( 67th) and the University of Western Australia( 98th). The University of Adelaide was the only Go8 university that failed to make the top 100; it dropped from 100th in the 2014 index to 113th this year.
Of the non-Go8 universities, the University of Technology, Sydney was the best performer, jumping 46 places, from 264th to 218th overall. ■
QILT has it all covered
Prospective students will soon be able to compare contrasting higher education courses and institutions on an eagerly anticipated website.
Based on thousands of surveys students completed across Australia each year, the government-funded but independent Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching( QILT) website is designed to help students make more informed choices based on feedback from those who have enrolled in the same courses.
The site will also include employer satisfaction survey data, giving prospective students valuable insight into how industry values appropriate course outcomes and graduates.
In launching the site, then-education minister Christopher Pyne said it was part of the Coalition Government’ s commitment to“ creating a world-class education system that is competitive and high quality so that students get the best results”.
“ The easy to use website lets students compare institutions and study areas based on the results of thousands of surveys completed by current and former students,” Pyne said.“ New results will continue to be added over time, ensuring the information available through QILT remains relevant and current.”
Pyne thanked Griffith University vice-chancellor professor Ian O’ Connor for his leadership in chairing the QILT Working Group as it developed the website.
The bulk of the survey data is sourced from annual polls conducted by Graduate Careers Australia, including the Graduate Destination Survey and Course Experience Questionnaire. Both surveys are undertaken by graduates in Australia four months after the completion of their courses.
Along with these, the site uses data from GCA’ s University Experience Survey( UES), which the QILT website states was undertaken by about 100,000 undergraduate students in 2014.
Indicators from the UES displayed on the QILT website show the percentage of students satisfied with various aspects of their university experience, such as overall quality of educational experience, teaching quality, available resources, student support and skills development. ■
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