A breakdown of The Good Universities Guide 2020 ratings
The annual Good Universities Guide ratings have been revealed! This annual data reveals statistics and rankings of different universities across Australia, allowing you to make informed decisions when selecting a university to suit your own personal preferences and needs.
These performance ratings and rankings are created using a combination of resources provided by the Department of Education, and graduate and student experience surveys in Australia.
Our ratings are divided into three broad categories: The Student Experience, Graduate Outcomes and Characteristics.
The ratings are summarised in the table below, along with the top university in each category. Note that these rankings are simply indicators that you can use to gain comparative insights into the varying strengths and characteristics of each institution.
| 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 |
Top performers
Bond University has once again taken the top spot for student retention, followed by The University of Melbourne in second place. If you’re focused on about how much you’re going to once you’ve finished studying, the University of Southern Queensland or Charles Darwin University achieved the highest median graduate salary of $65,200.
The Good Universities Guide ratings also provides ratings for university courses. For example, University of Melbourne or Australian Catholic University both scored highly in learner engagement ratings for communications courses by Australian students. Many universities have shown their excellent records in the guide and it proves that Australian universities possess its own strengths.
Other findings
This year, medicine and pharmacy undergraduates scored the highest for securing a full-time job within four months (96 per cent), whereas creative arts students achieved 53 per cent.
Among the five-star rated universities, at least 83 per cent of surveyed students reported they were satisfied with teaching quality. This is slightly ahead of the national average of 81 per cent. Dentistry students were the least impressed with teaching quality, but still recorded a 73 per cent rate of satisfaction.
Head to the Ratings tab to view our most recent ratings across all categories.