AFR BOSS Best Business Schools 2026: Melbourne Retains No. 1

The University of Melbourne (Melbourne Business School) is Australia’s top business school in the 2026 Australian Financial Review (AFR) BOSS Best Business Schools rankings. It scored 87 overall, three points ahead of the Australian Graduate School of Management at UNSW Sydney (84), and secured the top spot for the second consecutive year.

The Results At a Glance

  • Melbourne ranks first for teaching, reputation and career impact (tied with UNSW on career impact), and second for research.
  • Weights are unchanged, but teaching now has two equally weighted sub-pillars.
  • Seven of the top 10 are Group of Eight universities, and Sydney rose from sixth to fourth.
  • Monash leads on research but ranks 25th for career impact.

Here is the list of the top ten business schools in Australia:

The 2026 AFR BOSS Top 10

# University Score Teaching Re-search Rep-utation Career impact 2025 rank
1 University of Melbourne 87 1 2 1 1 1
2 UNSW Sydney 84 4 5 4 1 2
3 University of Queensland 79 5 4 5 9 3
4 University of Sydney 78 12 2 2 9 6
5 Monash University 77 7 1 3 25 4
6 Deakin University 76 5 13 11 4 7=
7= Adelaide University 75 8 9 7 17 n/a*
7= University of Western Australia 75 12 17 8 4 5
9 Curtin University 74 14 7 13 3 12
10= Griffith University 72 8 6 16 19 15
10= University of Technology Sydney 72 11 11 9 21 10

Pillar columns show each school’s rank on that pillar, not a score.
*Adelaide University is a 2026 merger; the University of South Australia placed 7= in 2025 (Source).

What Is The AFR BOSS Ranking?

The Financial Review’s Best Business Schools rates Australian business schools on postgraduate teaching, research and career impact, plus the international reputation of the host business school worldwide. AFR says the aim is to help students and employers make better decisions when choosing a business school. It replaced the BOSS MBA ranking in 2022 and is Australia’s only domestic business school ranking.

How The Ranking Works

The Best Business School Ratings are averaged using fixed weights:

  • Teaching: 40%
  • Research: 20%
  • Career impact: 20%
  • Reputation: 20%

All the data used is publicly available. The Australian data inputs cover student satisfaction, graduate salaries and employment outcomes. International inputs come from Academic Ranking of World Univeristies (ARWU), Times Higher Education (THE) and Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), plus AACSB and EQUIS accreditation. THE and QS subject and degree ratings inform teaching, research and career impact. ARWU informs research only, and all three feed reputation. 

Within each pillar, weighted averages emphasize the data most closely tied to that pillar’s focus.

What’s New in 2026

Since 2025, teaching now has two sub-pillars with equal weight. One covers student opinion, using six ComparEd satisfaction measures for postgraduate business and commerce. The other covers external evaluation, using teaching data from THE and QS (including peer review and staff-student ratios) and accreditation.

Why Melbourne Stayed On Top

The University of Melbourne’s lead rests on high placement across the pillars. It is first or tied first on three pillars and second on the fourth. In 2025, it was second for teaching, behind Bond University, and third for career impact, behind Macquarie and UNSW. Dean Jenny George credited that year’s win to consistency, long-term investment in students, faculty and programs and good word of mouth.

Because the teaching pillar changed, treat year-on-year movements as indicative. UNSW Sydney is the closest challenger, rising from 83 to 84 and tied Melbourne for first on career impact, but ranks fourth for teaching and fifth for research.

Who Rose and Who Fell

  • Sydney climbed from sixth to fourth, helped by second place for research and reputation despite ranking 12th for teaching.
  • Queensland stayed third, and Monash slipped from fourth to fifth.
  • Western Australia fell from fifth to a tie for seventh.
  • Deakin moved up to sixth, helped by fifth for teaching and fourth for career impact.
  • Curtin and Griffith entered the top 10.

What the AFR BOSS Ranking Doesn’t Tell You

The overall score hides large differences between pillars. Monash is first for research but 25th for career impact. Curtin is third for career impact but 14th for teaching.

Other rankings use different methods. For example, in the QS Global MBA Rankings for 2027, Melbourne Business School is second in Australia and 34th globally, with AGSM @ UNSW placing first and 32nd. Keep in mind, these rankings only cover MBA programs, whereas AFR BOSS covers postgraduate business education more broadly.

How to Use Rankings To Make Your Decision

  1. Match the pillar to your goal. Career changers should weight career impact, and academics should weight research.
  2. Check your specific program. Overall rank doesn’t guarantee strength in your specialization.
  3. Compare formats. Full-time, part-time, online and executive options differ in cost and flexibility.
  4. Talk to alumni. Current students and graduates can tell you what a ranking can’t.

Get access to firsthand accounts from those who have experienced the program that you want to study. Visit the MASTERGRADSCHOOL ambassador page to get insights directly from current students and alumni.