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Subjects at the University of Bristol are world-class, new league table confirms

Press release issued: 8 March 2017

Many of the courses taught at the University of Bristol are among the best in the world, according to an international league table.

New data from the QS World University Rankings by Subject, which highlights the world's top universities in a range of popular subject areas, confirms that 29 subjects taught by the University of Bristol are highly rated within the world’s top 100.

Nine of its subjects are within the top 50 and two are within the top 20 alongside other leading universities such as Princeton, Stanford, UCLA, Oxford, Cambridge and Sydney.

Most notably, Anatomy and Physiology at Bristol was ranked 15th best in the world and Earth and Marine Sciences* was up one place to 18th.

Published annually since 2011, the rankings are based on academic reputation, employer reputation and research impact.

Professor Hugh Brady, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Bristol, said: "These rankings demonstrate the strength of research and teaching at Bristol across all disciplines.

"We are particularly pleased to see that Physiology and Earth Sciences rank in the top 20 in their subjects across the world."

Other subjects in which Bristol ranked in the top 50 include: English Language and Literature, Dentistry, Veterinary Science, Geography, Education, Social Policy and Administration*.

As well as individual subject rankings, the QS system ranks the world's top universities in their overall positions too, with Bristol being ranked 41st in 2016/17.

The ranking takes into account research quality, graduate employment, staff to student ratios and teaching standards.

The QS subject rankings are based on the expert opinion of 305,000 academics and 194,000 employers, plus analysis of 43 million research papers and 185 million citations.

Further information

*Please note, the QS World Subject Rankings use different, often broader, subject headings to the University of Bristol and other institutions. For example, Bristol teaches Earth Sciences as opposed to 'Earth and Marine Sciences'; Social Policy as opposed to 'Social Policy and Administration'.

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