New league table reveals Exeter University as one of the world’s best for numerous subjects

According to a new league table, the University of Exeter’s subjects across the academic spectrum have been ranked among the world’s best.

The Times Higher Education’s World University Rankings by Subject 2025 covers 11 broad disciplinary areas, including arts and humanities, business and economics, computer science, education studies, engineering, law, life sciences, medical and health, physical sciences, psychology, and social sciences.

One of these areas, arts and humanities, which include the sub-sections of languages, literature, history, philosophy, theology, and archaeology, ranked 82nd in the world, retaining its 2024 position inside the top 100.

Physical sciences, which accounts for maths and physics, improved compared to the previous year, placing in the 101-125 band in the rankings for 2025, having been 126-150 in 2024.

Exeter placed 201-250 for engineering, 101-125 for life sciences, 101-125 for psychology, and positioned 301-400 in computer science. Social sciences, which cover politics, sociology, and international studies placed, 126-150 for 2025.

Law, medical and health, along with business and economics, all saw a drop in their rankings. Law placed 126-150, while medical and health placed 151-175 in 2025. Business and economics placed 201-250, compared to 176-200 in 2024.

Exeter maintained its 126-150 position in 2025 for education studies. The education studies evaluate the leading universities in teacher training and academic studies.

These subject rankings are based upon the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2025, published in October 2024, which ranked Exeter 172nd among 2,092 institutions.

The rankings assess university performance across five core areas: teaching, research environment, research quality, industry engagement, and international outlook.