Western Sydney University tops THE Impact Rankings again

Western Sydney University, Australia, has topped the overall Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings for the third year in a row.

Australia dominates the top of the overall rankings with four institutions in the top 10 and five in the top 20: Western Sydney University (1st), University of Tasmania (=2nd), RMIT University (5th), UNSW Sydney (7th) and University of Technology, Sydney (=13th).

In the overall ranking Canada and the United Kingdom both had two in the top 10 and both had three in the top 20.

India has the most universities in the ranking – 105. But the UK had the most in the top 100 with 25.

The THE Impact Rankings, released on 13 June, is now in its sixth year and has quadrupled in scale since it was launched in 2019 with 1,963 institutions ranked, up from 462 institutions in the first year.

It ranks universities’ contribution to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) – by comparing data on each institution’s performance in SDG 17 Partnerships for the Goals and a minimum of three of the remaining 16 SDGs, which cover a broad range of global challenges, from poverty and health, to climate action, employment and innovation, reducing inequality and life on land and in water.

There is also a ranking table for each of the 17 SDGs.

A record 2,152 universities from 125 countries/regions were assessed, which is a significant increase on last year where 1,705 universities were ranked, representing a 26% increase.

There are 595 newly ranked universities and universities from 14 countries have participated in the ranking for the first time this year, which are: Albania, Angola, Comoros, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, Libya, Malawi, North Macedonia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia and Yemen.

According to THE, the methodology for the 2024 ranking involves collecting data on indicators “to provide comprehensive and balanced comparisons across four broad areas: research, stewardship, outreach and teaching”. The data used refer to the closest academic year to January to December 2022.

A university’s total score in a given year is calculated by combining its score in SDG 17 with its best three results on the remaining 16 SDGs. SDG 17 accounts for 22 per cent of the total score, while the other SDGs each carry a weighting of 26 per cent. This means that different universities are scored based on a different set of SDGs, depending on their focus. The score for the overall ranking is an average of the last two years’ total scores.

Phil Baty, Times Higher Education’s chief global affairs officer, described the THE Impact Ranking as “an extremely valuable tool for universities, governments, funders, policymakers and prospective students to see how universities are demonstrating to all they serve how they’re delivering social and economic impact on the world stage”.

The highest ranked higher education institution, in the overall category, in each region is:

• Africa: University of Johannesburg, South Africa – joint 36th.

• Arab region: King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Saudi Arabia – joint 81st.

• Asia: Yonsei University (Seoul campus), South Korea – 11th.

• Australasia: Western Sydney University, Australia – 1st.

• Europe: University of Manchester, UK – joint 2nd.

• North America: University of Alberta, Canada – 6th.

• Latin America: National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico – 64th.

Western University, in addition to coming top overall, also came first in the world for SDG 5, Gender Equality; 3rd for SDG 15 Life on Land; and fourth in three goals, SDG 13 Climate Action, SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production, and SDG 17 Partnerships for the Goals. In addition it was eighth in the world for SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities and ninth for SDG 6 Clean Water and Sanitation.

Interim Vice-Chancellor and President of Western Sydney University, Professor Clare Pollock, said: “Delivering positive and meaningful community impact sits at the heart of everything we do at Western Sydney University. For 35 years it has been core to our mission, inspiring and motivating us to improve people’s lives and to be a force for change.

“It is a remarkable and defining moment for an Australian university to be recognised as number one in the world in such a highly competitive global rankings system for three years in a row.”

Pollock said the University’s teaching, research and international partnerships are fully aligned to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals 2030 (SDGs), which are embedded across all the University’s operations.

“For Western Sydney University, the Sustainable Development Goals are more than aspirational – they underpin our strategic direction, institutional values and organisational culture,” said Professor Pollock.

“The SDGs are the driving force behind our action plans and can be seen right across our teaching, research, campus operations and engagement, inspiring collaborations between students, staff and our community partners to tackle complex challenges such as climate transitions and social justice.

The University of Manchester, as well as coming second overall, came top in two individual SDGs, SDG11: Sustainable Cities and Communities and SDG15 – Life on Land.

Professor Nalin Thakkar, Vice-President for Social Responsibility at The University of Manchester, said: “Social responsibility is, of course, a core goal for us so we’re delighted to be ranked top in the UK, top in Europe and second in the world.

“These rankings cover our full range of functions – across research, students, public engagement and university operations – and we’re proud to be part of this growing community of universities who want to improve our society, economy and environment in all that we do.”

Highest placed institutions in all 17 SDGs

Globally UK universities topped the most rankings for individual SDGs with five compared with Australia (four), South Korea (two), and a geographically diverse selection of countries with one each: Indonesia, Canada, India, Denmark, Nigeria, Germany, Netherlands, United States and Malaysia (some of these were joint winners of SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure).

The highest placed higher education institutions for each SDG were:

• SDG 1 No poverty: Universitas Airlangga (UNAIR) (Indonesia) – Research on poverty and support for students from poor families.

• SDG 2 Zero hunger: Queen’s University (Canada)– Research on hunger, teaching on food sustainability and commitment to tackling food waste and hunger on campus and locally.

• SDG 3 Good health and well-being: JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research (India) – Research on key diseases and conditions, support for healthcare professions, and health of students and staff.

• SDG 4 Quality education: Aalborg University (Denmark) – Contributions to early years and lifelong learning and commitment to inclusive education.

• SDG 5 Gender equality: Western Sydney University (Australia) – Research and policies on gender equality and commitment to recruiting and promoting women.

• SDG 6 Clean water and sanitation: University of Exeter (UK)Research related to water, water usage and commitment to ensuring good water management in wider community.

• SDG 7 Affordable and clean energy: Afe Babalola University (Nigeria) – Energy research, energy use and policies, and commitment to promoting energy efficiency.

• SDG 8 Decent work and economic growth: Kyungpook National University (South Korea)– Economics research, employment practices and share of studentstaking work placements.

• SDG 9 Industry, innovation and infrastructure: Delft University of Technology (Netherlands), RWTH Aachen University (Germany), Technical University of Munich (Germany), TU Dresden (Germany), University of Edinburgh (UK), University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (Germany), University of Stuttgat (Germany) and Yonsei University (Seoul campus) (South Korea) – Research on industry and innovation, number of patents and spin-off companies and research income from industry.

• SDG 10 Reduced inequalities: RMIT University (Australia) – Research on social inequalities, policies on discrimination and commitment to recruiting staff and students from under-represented groups.

• SDG 11 Sustainable cities and communities: University of Manchester (UK) – Research on sustainability, role as custodians of arts and heritage and internal approaches to sustainability.

• SDG 12 Responsible consumption and production: Bournemouth University (UK) and King’s College London (UK) – Research on responsible consumption and approach to the sustainable use of resources.

• SDG 13 Climate action: University of Tasmania (Australia) – Research on climate change, use of energy and preparations for dealing with consequences of climate change.

• SDG 14 Life below water: Arizona State University (Tempe) (United States) – Research on life below water and education on and support for aquatic ecosystems.

• SDG 15 Life on land: University of Manchester (UK) – Research on life on land and education on and support for land ecosystems.

• SDG 16 Peace, justice and strong institutions: Universiti Sains Malaysia (Malaysia)– Research on peace and justice, participation as advisers for government and policies on academic freedom.

• SDG 17 Partnerships for the goals: University of Technology Sydney (Australia) – The broader ways in which universities support the SDGs throughcollaboration with other countries, promotion of best practices and publication of data.

Bayu Arie Fianto PhD, Head of the SDGs Centre at, Universitas Airlangga (UNAIR) which achieved the top global position for SDG 1: No Poverty – as well as fourth globally on SDG 5: Gender Equality – said that UNAIR has long been implementing poverty eradication programmes, including waiving or reducing tuition fees and engaging in community entrepreneurship development programmes.

“The goal is for society to be prosperous and empowered,” he said in a statement on the university’s website.

UNAIR’s entrepreneurship development program manifests as community service. Participants receive training on startups, networking skills, and financial support. Additionally, research and publication play a crucial role in achieving the No Poverty goal.

UNAIR also collaborates with various partners to address poverty.

“We collaborate with many villages, business communities, and small and medium enterprises (SMEs). We also collaborate with various units and directorates within UNAIR and with Islamic social institutions that partner with UNAIR to help the community,” Fianto said.

The two most popular SDGs (excluding SDG 17) are SDG 4 – quality education – with 1,681 universities, followed by SDG 3 – good health and well-being with 1,498 and SDG 5 – gender equality and 1,361 universities.