University Of Auckland Retains Top NZ Spot In QS World University Rankings
The University of Auckland has retained its 65th place in the 2026 QS World University Rankings, the only New Zealand University to be placed in the top 100 – a strong showing in a highly competitive global education market.
The result marks a consistently positive trend in this prestigious ranking – the University was 87th in 2023, 68th in 2024, 65th in 2025 and 65th again for 2026.
Additionally, QS updated its methodology for the 2026 rankings, meaning a higher overall score was required to maintain the same ranking. The University of Auckland's score increased from 69.7 in 2025 to 77.5 in 2026.There were 1,501 institutions ranked this year, including eight in Aotearoa New Zealand.
'Retaining our 65th spot in the QS World Universities Rankings is an endorsement of the efforts of the University of Auckland community and its pursuit of excellence in all it does,' said Vice-Chancellor Professor Dawn Freshwater. 'This ranking comes in a year of upheaval in higher education in some parts of the world, alongside rapidly improved performances from peers in other regions.
'We are proud to be New Zealand's highest-ranked university and a popular destination for academics and students from around the world.
'And while a top 100 ranking is excellent, it's the daily efforts made in teaching, learning, research and innovation that is the key to being a successful institution.'
The WUR assesses performance across ten areas. The University improved its position in five of these – employment outcomes, International Research Network, international students, Academic Reputation, and citations per faculty.
Across the Tasman, within the 'Group of Eight' universities, the University of Sydney fell seven places and moved out of the top 20, and the University of Melbourne fell six places.
Further impact
Another major ranking result, the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings, was also announced this week. These assess universities' contributions to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
For 2026, the University has been ranked 28th out of 2,318 institutions worldwide, placing in the top 1.2%. This follows last year's position in the top 0.7% – an impressive performance in a rapidly growing and highly competitive field.
The Impact Rankings demonstrate a university's commitment to societal impact and sustainable development, highlighting its role in addressing global challenges such as poverty, inequality, and climate change.
The University showed a significant improvement in SDG7 (affordable and clean energy), leaping from 75th last year to 11th this year, and in the top 1 percent globally. Overall, Auckland is also in the top 5 percent in the world for nine of the 17 SDGs.
In January, the University was appointed chair of hub for SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), to lead national and global initiatives to support inclusive economic development and fair work.
Earlier this month, the University was recognised among the top global institutions for producing digitally skilled graduates, placing 76th in the 2025 Top 200 Global Leaders in Digital Talent Development. These rankings are produced by Emerging Group, which specialises in employability rankings. The list highlights universities making a significant contribution to the digital economy by training professionals who lead innovation and drive digital transformation.
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Top 10 locations by average score per indicator and overall* Country/Territory No HEi ranked Academic Reputation Employer Reputation Faculty Student Ratio Citations Per Faculty Int'l Faculty Ratio Int'l Students Ratio Int'l Research Network Employment Outcomes Sustainability Overall Score Hong Kong SAR, China 9 57.8 40.3 62.6 71.6 98.8 94.7 50.1 50.8 65.7 61.8 Netherlands 13 55.8 49.8 39.7 73.1 89.7 77.5 87.9 53.9 72.0 61.7 Sweden 8 51.7 42.2 61.8 60.1 91.8 71.3 88.8 66.2 84.5 60 Switzerland 10 45.8 37.7 63.8 65.3 97.4 74.5 78.1 52.9 71.9 57.3 New Zealand 8 46.4 29.3 22.5 57.9 99.9 77.3 62.9 64.8 82.5 51 Australia 36 39.5 34.7 16.7 70.7 85.6 77.5 76.0 34.7 76.1 49.8 Belgium 10 38.1 26.5 33.1 51.6 78.5 58.2 82.5 50.6 74.6 45.6 Ireland 8 40.1 40.5 27.2 36.8 87.2 63.7 71.1 49.0 74.8 44.8 Canada 29 35.6 34.5 20.9 51.8 71.8 63.8 74.4 50.4 77.3 44.4 United Kingdom 90 34.0 34.8 26.7 39.2 82.0 83.5 72.9 31.8 67.7 42.1 *Note: only locations with at least eight universities feature in this chart Benchmarking against all countries and territories included in the rankings, New Zealand is placed for its Academic Reputation with an average score of 46.4, behind Hong Kong SAR (57.8), Singapore (56.9), Netherlands (55.8), Sweden (51.7) and Denmark (50.8). 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Italy enters the global top 100 for the first time, with Politecnico di Milano ranked 98th. Mainland China continues its ascent. Peking University holds on to 14th place, Tsinghua University rises to 17th, and Fudan University climbs nine spots to 30th, signaling a strong research-led push and increased academic reputation. Hong Kong SAR is the world's second most improved higher education system in this edition, among those with five or more ranked universities. Only Ireland improves by more. These shifts underscore the growing importance of international visibility, talent attraction, and cross-border collaboration, all areas where New Zealand universities have traditionally been strong and must now focus on to remain competitive. QS World University Rankings 2026: Top 10 2026 Rank 2025 Rank Institution Location 1 1 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) United States 2 2 Imperial College London United Kingdom 3 6 Stanford University United States 4 3 University of Oxford United Kingdom 5 4 Harvard University United States 6 5 University of Cambridge United Kingdom 7 7 ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) Switzerland 8 8 National University of Singapore (NUS) Singapore 9 9 UCL (University College London) United Kingdom 10 10 California Institute of Technology (Caltech) United States The QS World University Rankings 2026 is based on a weighted index of indicators listed below. For further details, visit the QS methodology page. Lens Weighting Indicator Weighting Research and Discovery 50% Academic Reputation 30% Citations per Faculty 20% Employability and Outcomes 20% Employer Reputation 15% Employment Outcomes 5% Global Engagement 15% International Faculty Ratio 5% International Research Network 5% International Student Diversity 0% International Student Ratio 5% Learning Experience 10% Faculty Student Ratio 10% Sustainability 5% Sustainability 5% The full QS World University Rankings 2026 is available at
