Torrens University Australia, read against the whole sector.
National. Every measure below sits beside the national sector median for the same year, drawn from the CoreBridge Intelligence: Australian Universities dataset.
Figures carry the year they were reported for.
This page is a fixed extract. The live profile carries every published year, benchmarks against the sector, mission group and state, and a report you can print for a board paper.
Open the live Torrens profileSources and methodTorrens has nearly doubled its student load since 2018, but keeps fewer first-year students than any Table A university.
Student load has nearly doubled since 2018, but sits below the sector median
Torrens against the 38 Table A universities. Choose a measure.
Torrens taught 15,447 EFTSL in 2024, up from 7,907 in 2018. That is about two-thirds of the median Table A university (23,622).
| Measure | Torrens | Earliest shown | Sector median | Middle half | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Student load | 15,447 (2024) | 7,907 (2018) | 23,622 (of 38) | 14,388 to 37,577 | |
| Enrolments | 25,439 (2024) | 13,377 (2018) | 34,704 (of 38) | 21,660 to 50,798 | |
| International share of student load | 54.0% (2024) | 52.5% (2018) | 30.7% (of 38) | 21.6% to 43.0% | |
| First-year retention | 67.7% (2023) | 74.5% (2016) | 77.9% (of 38) | 74.5% to 86.0% | |
| Six-year completion | 50.6% (2024) | 34.0% (2020) | 62.4% (of 38) | 52.9% to 69.2% |
Sector median and middle half: the median and interquartile range of the Table A universities that report the measure in the year shown, with the count beside the median. The University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia are counted separately; Batchelor Institute is not in the benchmark. For the six dual-sector universities, which run a TAFE alongside the university, figures are the higher education share, so they can be read on the same basis as Torrens. Earliest shown is the first year in the exhibit, not last year. Torrens became a Table B provider in 2015.
Students rate the teaching highly, yet fewer Torrens graduates are in full-time work four months after finishing.
Students rate Torrens teaching above all but one Table A university
2025 survey results against the Table A universities. Choose a measure.
83.7% of undergraduates rated teaching quality positively in 2025. Only UNE scored higher (84.6%); the median was 80.3%.
| Measure | Torrens | Earliest shown | Sector median | Middle half | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teaching quality | 83.7% (2025) | — | 80.3% (of 37) | 78.3% to 81.5% | |
| Overall educational experience | 77.9% (2025) | — | 76.6% (of 37) | 74.1% to 79.2% | |
| Graduates in full-time work | 68.6% (2025) | — | 74.6% (of 37) | 72.6% to 81.7% | |
| Graduate median full-time salary | $67,800 (2025) | — | $77,800 (of 37) | $75,000 to $80,000 |
Survey results are single-year 2025 figures for undergraduates, read from QILT's national report tables. Graduate Outcomes covers people who completed in 2024, surveyed about four months later. The University of Notre Dame Australia is not in these benchmarks, so the medians are of 37.
A small teaching workforce carries slightly more students per academic than the sector median.
Torrens runs a small teaching academic workforce, near the sector's lowest quarter
Teaching-function staffing against the 38 Table A universities.
630 FTE in 2024, casuals included, against a median of 1,028. The series starts in 2019 because the Department's Torrens figures break between 2017 and 2018.
| Measure | Torrens | Earliest shown | Sector median | Middle half | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Academic staff in teaching functions | 630 (2024) | 389 (2019) | 1,028 (of 38) | 623 to 1,436 | |
| Onshore students per teaching-function academic | 23.8 (2024) | 26.2 (2019) | 22.5 (of 38) | 19.9 to 25.4 | |
| Professional staff (FTE, reported to the Department) | 4 (2024) | 16 (2018) | Not comparable | — | — |
Academic staff in teaching functions: the Department of Education's count for its student-staff ratio. It covers staff in academic units with a teaching or teaching-and-research function, casuals included. It leaves out research-only staff. Counting every staff member on an academic classification, the total was 663 FTE in 2024 (all staff less professional staff; a CoreBridge calculation from the Department's figures).
Professional staff: since 2017, Torrens has outsourced most professional work to a third-party provider. The Department notes that those staff are not reported in Torrens' staff data. The figure of 4 FTE is what Torrens reports. It is not its whole professional workforce and cannot be compared with the sector median.
Student-staff ratio: onshore student load (EFTSL) divided by academic staff FTE in teaching functions, the Department of Education's own measure (Higher Education Staff Statistics). It uses onshore load, so the total student load above divided by the academic figure above does not reproduce it.
Torrens earns less than half a typical university's revenue but keeps almost three times the median surplus.
Revenue is less than half the sector median
Parent-entity finance against the 38 Table A universities, nominal dollars.
Torrens earned $346.5m in 2024, against a median of $842.5m. Only 3 Table A universities earned less.
| Measure | Torrens | Earliest shown | Sector median | Middle half | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total revenue | $346.5m (2024) | $300.1m (2021) | $842.5m (of 38) | $507.2m to $1.32bn | |
| International fee income | $193.6m (2024) | $177.6m (2021) | $187.6m (of 38) | $100.0m to $300.9m | |
| Net result after income tax | $39.7m (2024) | $34.7m (2021) | $13.9m (of 38) | −$27.1m to $71.4m |
Finance figures are the parent entity, the basis the Department of Education collects. A university's consolidated group accounts, which include its controlled entities, can differ. Torrens is a company that pays income tax; public universities do not. Its net result is shown after tax, as the Department's Finance Publication reports it: 2021 $34.7m, 2022 $33.6m, 2023 $35.6m, 2024 $39.7m. Before tax, the 2024 operating result was $56.8m (2021: $49.7m). Finance for 2025 is not shown until the Department publishes it.
Research brings in less at Torrens than at any Table A university.
Research brings in less at Torrens than at any Table A university
HERDC research income against the 38 Table A universities, log scale.
$1.5m of HERDC research income in 2024. The lowest Table A figure was $6.2m (Notre Dame) and the median was $102.5m. Shown on a log scale so the gap can be read.
| Measure | Torrens | Earliest shown | Sector median | Middle half | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Research income (HERDC) | $1.5m (2024) | $0.9m (2016) | $102.5m (of 38) | $36.5m to $156.7m |
Research income is HERDC categories 1 to 4. The 2025 collection closed in June 2026 and has not yet been published.
Torrens draws more low-SES, First Nations and regional students than the median university.
Torrens enrols a larger low-SES share than the median university
Shares of commencing domestic students against the Table A universities.
23.8% of commencing domestic students in 2024 came from low-SES areas, against a median of 17.6%, just short of the sector's top quarter.
| Measure | Torrens | Earliest shown | Sector median | Middle half | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low-SES share of commencing domestic students | 23.8% (2024) | 20.3% (2017) | 17.6% (of 38) | 10.8% to 25.3% | |
| First Nations share of commencing domestic students | 3.7% (2024) | 1.5% (2016) | 2.4% (of 38) | 1.5% to 4.3% | |
| Regional and remote share of commencing domestic students | 21.3% (2024) | 18.0% (2017) | 17.1% (of 37) | 11.1% to 33.3% |
Shares are of commencing domestic students, as the Department reports them (low SES by SA1). The University of Notre Dame Australia is not in the regional and remote benchmark.
Open Torrens in the interactive dashboardSources and method →More universities in National
Figures verified against public sourcesData build: 24 September 2026 · Page revised: 29 October 2026