University of Surrey named one of the world’s top universities in QS World University Rankings by Subject

Ahead of the announcement of the outcomes of the Research Excellence Framework 2021 on 12 May 2022, the University of Surrey continues to perform well in the global international rankings landscape as illustrated by the publication of the QS World University Rankings by Subject. 

The subject ranking results – which follow last year’s global ranking and are based on the same data - are a testament to the efforts all staff are making to deliver a first-rate student experience. 

‘Hospitality and Tourism’ (14^th) and ‘Engineering – Petroleum’ (18^th), both long-standing strengths of the University, are both listed in the top 20 of the world rankings. 

Petroleum engineering is no longer a focus of the University, but its strong performance in the rankings highlights the importance of building and sustaining reputational excellence over a long period of time. 

The ‘Hospitality and Tourism’ course is ranked first in the UK, with ‘Engineering – Petroleum’ and ‘Nursing’ achieving fifth and seventh respectively. 

Overall, 13 of the University’s subjects are ranked in the UK top 25 with 14 in the top 300 globally. 

The results come after 1,543 institutions were ranked across 51 subjects in five broad subject areas, creating over 17,700 ranked entries.  

Of those five broad subject areas, Engineering & Technology is the University’s strongest in joint 236th place with an overall score of 70.2.  

The four other subject areas are Social Sciences & Management (66.8), Natural Sciences (61.5), Arts & Humanities (61.1) and Life Sciences & Medicine (54.6).  

The rankings are based on weighted scores collected in five areas.   

• Academic Reputation: Between 2017 and 2021 QS has collected votes from over 130,000 academics around the world. Each academic counted has given their opinion on universities in their fields of expertise.
  
   
• Citations per Paper: This ratio measures the average number of citations obtained per publication, and is an estimate of the impact and quality of the scientific work done by universities  
  
   
• Employer Reputation: The employability metric is based on employer reputation. The voice of over 75,000 global employers have been taken into account between 2017 and 2021 giving us a large pool of information in terms of hiring levels.  
  
   
• h-index: The h-index is an index that attempts to measure the stability of impact and quality of the work published by the institutions' scientists and scholars.  
  
   
• International Research Network: the IRN is a measure of efficiency of establishing stable research collaborations in every of our five broad subject areas.  

The University has recently redoubled its efforts to improve academic and employer reputation scores through the establishment of the International League Tables Advisory Group, co-chaired by the Dean International, Professor Amelia Hadfield, and Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Research and Innovation, Professor David Sampson.  

Professor Sampson said: “Surrey's actual performance systematically out-performs others’ perceptions of us - a common sign of an institution on the up. We all have a part to play to ensure our reputation keeps up with our reality - as a vibrant global player in research and innovation.”

In 2021, the QS World University Rankings placed the University of Surrey as 272nd in the world overall, out of the top 1,000 higher education institutions globally.