Sussex ranked the best place to study Development Studies in the WORLD

Higher education analysts, Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), have released their seventh edition of their world universities by subject ranking. Their research put Sussex University as the best institution in the world for Development Studies.

Sussex has previously received this first place ranking back in 2015. However in 2016, Sussex lost to Harvard for the top ranking, placing second.

In 2017, we are back on top beating Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge, and LSE who all placed in the top five positions.

Loughborough University was ranked the best in the world for sports-related subjects, a new subject introduced into QS’s research.

According to the research, the University of Oxford is the United Kingdom’s major winner this year. In taking four number-one positions, it is one of only three universities to record world-leading performance in more than one subject, the others being Harvard University (15 number-one positions) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (12 number-one positions).

The University of Cambridge also performed extremely well. It ranks in the top 10 of 36 subjects, more than any other institution in the world .

UK universities take just over one-third of all top-three positions, and over a quarter of all top-10 positions. However, in both instances, the percentage figure is slightly lower than last year.

At least one UK university can be found in the top 10 of forty-five of the forty-six subject tables. Sixteen UK institutions can boast at least one top-three place.

The UK is home to all three of the world’s top institutions for the study of Archaeology and Geography. 

QS have introduced four new subjects to this year’s research project: Anatomy & Physiology, Hospitality & Leisure Management, Sports-related Subjects, and Theology, Divinity & Religious Studies.

QS’s Head of Research, Ben Sowter, said: “If last autumn’s overall rankings suggested the winds of winter blowing towards the UK’s higher education system, this year’s subject rankings – enabling observers to drill down into university performance more deeply – provide a less chilling forecast.

“Though the UK does see its share of overall places decrease, this is a trend observed by institutions in the US, Canada, and Australia, as other nations grow increasingly competitive.”