Student Support Scores Vary by 20 Points Across Australian Universities
The short answer is yes: student support ratings differ by roughly 20 points between the lowest and highest scoring Australian universities in the QILT 2025 Student Experience Survey.
Among the institutions in the undergraduate dataset, Macquarie University recorded 66.7 percent positive rating for Student Support and Services, while Australian University of Theology recorded 94.9 percent.
That is a spread of 28.2 percentage points, and even when you set aside the smallest institutions, the gap remains substantial.
These figures are not a ranking of quality in any absolute sense.
They are survey results, collected from a sample of enrolled undergraduates, and they come with confidence intervals that tell you how much uncertainty sits behind each point estimate.
What the QILT 2025 Student Experience Survey Measures
The Student Experience Survey, run under the Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching program, asks current students about several dimensions of university life.
The dimension most relevant here is Student Support and Services, which covers things like access to academic advice, wellbeing services, and administrative help.
The survey also reports on Skills Development, Peer Engagement, Teaching Quality and Engagement, Learning Resources, and an Overall Educational Experience measure.
Each result is expressed as a percentage of respondents who gave a positive rating.
A score of 73.6 for Australian Catholic University means 73.6 percent of that institution's surveyed undergraduates rated student support positively.
It does not mean the university scored 73.6 out of 100 on an external audit, and it does not mean every student had the same experience.
The 2025 survey results are published with 90 percent confidence intervals.
For Australian Catholic University, the Student Support and Services figure is 73.6 with an interval from 72.8 to 74.5.
For Australian University of Theology, the figure is 94.9 with an interval from 90.3 to 97.1.
The intervals are wider for smaller institutions because fewer students responded, which is why a high point estimate from a small sample should be read with more caution than a similar figure from a large university.
How the 20-Point Gap Plays Out Across Institutions
Looking across the undergraduate data, the spread is not a simple story of big cities versus regional campuses.
Some large metropolitan universities sit near the lower end of the range.
Monash University recorded 67.9 for Student Support and Services, with a confidence interval from 67.3 to 68.6.
Macquarie University recorded 66.7, with an interval from 65.9 to 67.5.
Curtin University recorded 67.8, with an interval from 66.7 to 68.8.
Other institutions with similar student profiles scored notably higher.
Deakin University recorded 77.2, with an interval from 76.4 to 77.9.
Edith Cowan University recorded 77.4, with an interval from 76.2 to 78.6.
Federation University Australia recorded 78.8, with an interval from 77.2 to 80.2.
These are not small differences when you consider that the survey asks about the same underlying construct across all institutions.
Some universities sit in the middle band.
Bond University recorded 84.6, with an interval from 82.4 to 86.5.
Avondale University recorded 86.3, with an interval from 83.1 to 88.7.
Flinders University recorded 76.8, with an interval from 75.5 to 78.1.
Murdoch University recorded 75.6, with an interval from 74.0 to 77.0.
The pattern suggests that student support ratings are not determined by university size or location alone.
At the lower end of the distribution, several institutions cluster in the high 60s and low 70s.
James Cook University recorded 69.4, with an interval from 68.1 to 70.7.
Griffith University recorded 71.0, with an interval from 70.0 to 71.9.
La Trobe University also recorded 71.0, with the same interval.
Central Queensland University recorded 74.9, with an interval from 73.6 to 76.1.
Charles Darwin University recorded 74.5, with an interval from 72.7 to 76.1.
Charles Sturt University recorded 74.0, with an interval from 72.7 to 75.2.
Why the Numbers Should Not Be Read as a Simple Ranking
The survey is a sample, not a census.
Every point estimate carries sampling error, and the confidence intervals make that visible.
When two universities have intervals that overlap, you cannot confidently say one is better than the other on this measure.
For example, Monash at 67.9 and Curtin at 67.8 have intervals that overlap substantially, so the difference between them is not statistically meaningful.
Even when intervals do not overlap, the survey measures student perception at one point in time.
A university that scores lower in 2025 may have changed its support services since the survey was conducted.
A university that scores higher may have benefited from a particular cohort of respondents.
The data tells you what students reported in that year, not what you will experience if you enrol next year.
The QILT program publishes its data processing and procedures, which explain how responses are weighted and how the confidence intervals are calculated.
Reading those procedures helps you understand what the numbers can and cannot support.
The ComparED website is the public search tool where you can look up individual institutions and see their results across all survey measures.
What the Survey Does Not Tell You About Support Services
The Student Support and Services measure is broad.
It does not break down support into categories like mental health counselling, disability services, academic advising, or international student support.
Two universities could have the same overall score while offering very different types of support.
One might excel at academic skills workshops, while another might have stronger wellbeing services.
The survey also does not measure whether support services are easy to access, how long students wait for appointments, or whether staff are culturally responsive to international students.
These are important practical questions that a percentage score cannot answer.
If you are comparing universities, the QILT figure is a useful starting point, but it should be paired with direct research into what each institution actually offers.
How to Verify the Data Yourself
The QILT website is the authoritative source for the survey methodology and the national results.
The ComparED website is the searchable public interface where you can filter by institution, study level, and survey year.
When you look up a university on ComparED, you will see the same figures used in this article, along with the confidence intervals and the number of respondents where available.
To verify a specific number, go to ComparED, select the institution, choose the undergraduate level, and find the Student Support and Services row for the 2025 survey.
The figure should match what is reported here.
If you are comparing two universities, use the same survey year and the same study level, because postgraduate results can differ from undergraduate results.
You can also check the QILT data processing page to understand how the survey handles non-response and weighting.
This matters because a university with a low response rate may have less reliable results than one with a high response rate, even if both have similar point estimates.
What the Gap Means for Your Decision
The 20-point spread is large enough to matter.
If you are choosing between universities that are otherwise similar, a 10-point difference in student support ratings is worth investigating.
It may reflect real differences in staffing levels, service hours, or how well support services are integrated into the student experience.
But the gap should not be the only factor.
A university with a lower score may still be a good fit for you if its support model matches your needs.
A university with a higher score may still have gaps in areas that matter to you.
The survey gives you a signal, not a verdict.
When you research further, look for concrete details: what support services exist, who can access them, what hours they operate, and whether there are services designed for international students.
Compare those details against your own circumstances.
The QILT data helps you narrow the field, but the final decision depends on your specific situation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the 20-point gap based on all Australian universities?
The figures in this article come from the QILT 2025 Student Experience Survey undergraduate dataset.
The spread of 28.2 points between Macquarie University at 66.7 and Australian University of Theology at 94.9 is the widest gap among the institutions in that dataset.
The gap between the lowest and highest scoring large public universities is narrower but still substantial.
Are these scores a measure of teaching quality?
No.
Student Support and Services is a separate measure from Teaching Quality and Engagement.
A university can score high on teaching while scoring lower on support, or the reverse.
The survey reports each dimension independently.
Can I compare scores across different years?
You can, but you should be careful.
The survey methodology and the student population can change from year to year.
A change in a university's score may reflect a real change in services, or it may reflect a different cohort of respondents.
The QILT website publishes each year's results separately, so you can look at trends over time.
Do these numbers apply to postgraduate students?
No.
The figures in this article are for undergraduate students only.
QILT publishes separate results for postgraduate students, and those numbers can be quite different.
If you are a postgraduate applicant, you should look at the postgraduate dataset.
What is the best way to use this data?
Use it as a screening tool.
Identify universities that score in a range you find acceptable, then research their support services in more detail.
The survey tells you how students felt in 2025; your own research tells you what is actually available now.