University Rankings

Ms Ellen Lee asked the Minister for Education whether the Ministry accepts the university ranking tables produced by agencies such as Quacquarelli Symonds and Times Higher Education, even if these agencies rank our Autonomous Universities unfavourably.

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The Senior Minister of State for Education (Mr Lawrence Wong) (for the Minister for Education): Mr Speaker, Sir, the international university ranking tables compare how our Autonomous Universities fare with respect to other universities overseas. However, each table uses different methods and ranking criteria to reflect the emphasis it places on the different aspects of a university. For example, the Shanghai Jiao Tong University ranking places 90% weighting on research-related indicators, whereas another very commonly cited ranking, the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) ranking is highly dependent on the academic reputation of a university based on the survey responses of other peer institutions. It is important to interpret the results of such international rankings carefully.

On our part – MOE – we assess the performance of our Autonomous Universities on multiple dimensions, covering both education and research. For example, indicators on student quality, graduate outcomes and resource utilisation are used. The Ministry also takes into account the findings from the Quality Assurance External Review Panel which we commissioned and which is made up of independent local and international industry leaders, professionals and eminent academics.

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