A four-day convocation ceremony was held by the University of Malaya (UM) from 20 to 23 October 2018, which saw a total of 5,279 graduates receiving their scrolls. Of these, 580 were international graduates from 46 countries including Iran, China, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Nigeria. UM Chancellor, HRH the Sultan of Perak Darul Ridzuan, Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah and the Pro-Chancellors, Toh Puan Dato’ Seri Hajjah Dr. Aishah Ong, Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Siti Norma Yaakob and Tan Sri Dato’ Seri DiRaja Ramli Ngah Talib presented 540 Doctorate degrees, 1,768 Master's degrees, 2,928 Bachelor's degrees and 43 Postgraduate Diplomas in seven separate sessions.

The Times Higher Education (THE) released the World University Rankings on 26 September 2018, and this is UM’s second time being ranked worldwide by THE since 2017. The release showed that the University of Malaya (UM) has improved in its ranking from the position of 351–400 last year to 301–350 this year out of 1258 institutions worldwide. This is a great achievement for the University as it is an indication of UM’s gradual improvement in the ranking system.  This year also sees UM as the top University amongst 11 Malaysian universities that were being ranked by THE.

In the recent Quacquarelli Symonds Asia University Rankings (QS-AUR) 2019, University of Malaya (UM) has achieved an overall rank of 19, reflecting an improved performance from 24 in QS-AUR 2018. In this latest release, UM is amongst top 4% in the regional Asia rankings. Since 2014, UM has gained 13 places, and over the 5 considered years. UM has always illustrated positive performances. Of the eleven considered indicators, the International Research Network indicator is the strongest one for UM, ranked 3rd among the top 300 Asian universities. UM also excelled in the Academic Reputation and the Employer Reputation indicators with ranks 25 and 30, respectively. These improved rankings are positive reinforcement to UM’s overall rankings in Asia.