Wollongong tops country in teaching performance

Aug 12, 2005

The University of Wollongong has been ranked number one in the country for teaching performance based on DEST's “Student Outcome Indicators for the Learning and Teaching Performance Fund”.

The Australian newspaper today (12 August) in a front page story highlighted that Wollongong has beaten the nation's most-prestigious higher learning institutions.

The article pointed out that the Federal Government will be rewarding the best-performing teaching universities with an extra $250 million in funding over the next three years ($54m in 2006).

The student outcome indicators have just been posted on the Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) website.

The Pro Vice-Chancellor (Academic), Professor Rob Castle, (pictured) heralded the latest rankings as a confirmation of the University's standing in teaching and learning.

“It is a tribute to the staff that they have been able to provide a positive personal experience for our students which is usually only found in smaller universities,” Professor Castle said.

The rankings follows hot on the heels of UOW's triumph in the independent Good Universities Guide. In the Guide, UOW's status as one of Australia's top research and teaching institutions was confirmed with five-star ratings across key categories in the nation's authoritative guide to choice of university.

In the 2006 Australian Good Universities Guide the University of Wollongong achieved an impressive maximum five stars in six of the key categories in the independent Guide. Only the top 20 per cent of universities can be awarded a five-star rating in any one category. Wollongong scored five-star ratings for a second successive year in (1) Research Intensity, (2) Graduate Rating, (3) Getting A Job (4) Positive Graduate Outcomes, (5) Graduate Starting Salary and (6) Staff Qualifications