Best universities in Sydney 2023

Top 3 universities in Sydney

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As one of the biggest student cities in Australia, and home to the five largest universities in the world, Sydney is a vibrant, engaging city to study in and enjoy. 

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Renowned for its laid-back and relaxed culture, Sydney is home to people from a huge range of backgrounds, with its approximately 35,000 international students hailing from India, China, Thailand, Brazil, Vietnam, Malaysia and many more. 

Compared with other university cities, the costs of studying and living in Sydney are relatively high. However, a student visa enables students to work up to 40 hours every two weeks during the academic year or full-time during the holidays, meaning students can afford to balance their studies, working and enjoying Sydney to the full, if they so choose. 

These are the best universities in Sydney based on the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2023.

3. University of Technology Sydney 

The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is known for its practice-oriented teaching programmes, focus on research, and partnerships with industry and the professions.

UTS has its origins in the 1870s, however it was founded in its current form in 1988. 

The UTS city campus is located within Sydney’s growing education, innovation and creative hub at the southern gateway to the Central Business District. 

There’s also the Moore Park precinct, Sydney’s premier sporting hub. This is home to UTS’ sport and exercise programmes, as well as sports media classes and the Graduate School of Health’s physiotherapy programme. A stone’s throw from the Sydney Cricket Ground, UTS’ facilities are co-located with Rugby Australia and Australia’s elite national rugby teams. 

UTS has nine faculties: the faculty of arts and social sciences; the school of business; the faculty of design; architecture and building; the faculty of engineering and information; the technology graduate school of health; the faculty of health; the faculty of law; the faculty of science and the faculty of transdisciplinary innovation.  

Notable alumni include actor Hugh Jackman and Pat Cummins, Australian cricketer.

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2. UNSW Sydney

Established in 1949 with a focus on the scientific, technological and professional disciplines, the University of New South Wales has nine faculties through which it offers bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees.

More than 50,000 students from at least 128 countries study at UNSW Sydney.

The main campus is situated on a 38-hectare site in Kensington, a suburb about 7km from central Sydney. There are several other campuses, with the largest being the Art and Design campus in Paddington and UNSW Canberra at the Australian Defence Force Academy. There are also sub-campuses in the Sydney Central Business District and in the suburbs of Randwick and Coogee, with several research stations throughout the state of New South Wales. 

UNSW conducts research in a range of areas including climate change and renewable energies to life-saving medical treatments and breakthrough technologies. In the social sciences, UNSW research informs policy and expert commentary in key issues facing society, ranging from human rights and constitutional recognition of indigenous Australians to public health and ageing.

Partnerships with both local communities and international institutions, such as Princeton, McGill, Duke, Brown and Maastricht universities and Imperial College London, enable UNSW to share knowledge, debate and research outcomes. 

Notable alumni include Scott Morrison, prime minister of Australia; King Tupou VI of Tonga; King Maha Vajiralongkorn of Thailand and the actor Rebel Wilson.

1.University of Sydney

Founded in 1850, the University of Sydney is Australia’s oldest university. It was also one of the first universities in the world to accept students based on academic merit and open its admissions to women in the same way as it did to men. 

Spread across the inner-city suburbs of Darlington and Camperdown, the university is home to more than 73,000 students and 8,000 permanent and fixed-term staff. 

The university comprises five faculties and three schools, offering a range of bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees, with arts and social sciences, business, science, engineering and health sciences among the largest schools and facilities, based on student enrolment. 

The university  has an extensive selection of museums such as the Nicholson Museum of Antiquities (the largest collection of its kind in the country), the Macleay Museum and the Rare Books Library, which has a copy of the Gospel of Barnabas, and a first edition of Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica by Sir Isaac Newton.

The University of Sydney Union is the oldest and largest university union in Australia, and there are more than 200 clubs and societies for students to get involved in. 

Notable alumni include no less than seven Australian prime ministers, two governor generals of Australia, nine state governors and territory administrators and 24 justices of the High Court of Australia. 

Top universities in Sydney 2023

Click each institution to view its World University Ranking 2023 profile