Reputation and rankings

Victoria University of Wellington is in the top 2 percent of the world’s universities and in the top 100 universities in the world for 10 subjects.

Outstanding quality

Victoria University of Wellington has an overall rating of Five Stars Plus—the maximum possible in the QS Stars University Ratings system.

According to QS, “Five Stars Plus-rated universities go above and beyond excellence, consistently delivering exceptional performance in every single category. From outstanding student satisfaction to cutting-edge research, they set the gold standard for higher education.”

Our university is one of only 23 in the world to achieve this outstanding rating. It’s a mark of our exceptional performance across multiple indicators, including academic reputation, student satisfaction, graduate employment rate, international collaborations, and campus facilities.

Find out more about what QS stars and ratings mean.

Global rankings

In the latest QS World University Rankings by Subject results, the University is ranked in the top 1% of the world for these subjects:

1. Development Studies
2. Earth and Marine Sciences
3. English Language and Literature
4. Geography
5. Geology
6. History
7. Hospitality and Leisure Management
8. Law
9. Library and Information Managemen
10. Linguistics
11. Performing Arts
12. Politics and International Studies
13. Psychology
14. Sociology.

The University is home to the highly ranked Faculties of Humanities and Social Sciences and Law, which are among the top faculties of their type  in the world.

The University also hosts New Zealand’s only School of Government undertaking teaching and research on public policy and public administration and management. The School is located within the Wellington School of Business and Government, one of an elite group of commerce faculties worldwide to hold the highly sought after Triple Crown of international commerce accreditations.