The 2023 QS World University Rankings by Subject are released today (22 March 2023).
QS Rankings by Subject detail performance in five broad academic areas, and across individual subjects. They end the 2023 ranking cycle for QS.
The last overall QS World University Rankings were released in June 2022, and Glasgow ranked 81 out of 1, 422 institutions.
Notable highlights from this year’s World Subject Rankings results include:
Speaking about the results, Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli, said: "It is encouraging once again to see a strong set of results in the QS World Rankings by Subject. With 24 out of 43 subject areas ranking in the top 100 in the world, these results show the global reputation of the University of Glasgow across a broad range of subject areas.
"I’d like to thank colleagues, firstly for their dedication and hard work which has ensured that we continue to rank as a truly world leading university, and also for their assistance in returning the data to QS, which is crucial in the process and informs these rankings."
Subjects are scored and ranked based on the following indicators, all with a weighted score out of 100, with varied weightings depending on the subject:
QS Subject Rankings 2023 Overall Performance
The University of Glasgow has performed well overall, ranked in 43 subjects among 1,597 institutions, and largely similar results to 2022.- Of the five broad subject/faculty areas, the University maintain three in the Top 100, improve in two and decrease in three areas.
- Of the 43 subjects, the University has improved rank position in 18 subjects, 14 have maintained their position and 11 have dropped in rank.
- Geology and Geophysics have ranked for the first time, both in the 201’230 rank banding.
- We have 24 subjects in the Top 100 and eight in the Top 50.
- Our top three subjects are the same as 2022 with Anatomy & Physiology remaining University of Glasgow’s best ranking subject, and the top three as follows:
Subject
2021
2022
2023
YoY Change
Anatomy & Physiology
51’100
18=
12
up 6
Veterinary Science
10
18
21
down 3
English Language & Literature
31
33
31=
up 2
2023 Broad Subject/Faculty Performance
At a broad subject/faculty level, Life Sciences & Medicine retained the best performing area, ranked 44 , up seven places on 2022, and ranked ninth in UK. Results were as follows:Broad Subject
2022 Rank
2023 Rank
YoY Rank Change
2022 Score
2023 Score
YoY Score Change
Life Sciences & Medicine
51
44=
up 7
79.3
79.4
Up 0.1
Arts & Humanities
66
59=
up 7
76.7
75.9
down 0.8
Social Sciences & Management
97=
98
down 1
73.4
72.5
down 0.9
Natural Sciences
118=
128=
down 10
75.8
74
down 1.8
Engineering & Technology
156=
163=
down 7
73.5
72
down 1.5
2023 Notable Mentions/Changes
- The most improved ranking position belongs to , up 10 places from 66 to 56, and Business Management & Studies , up 10 places from 147 to 137.
- The top-ranking subjects in the UK remained the same as 2022:
Subject
2022 Domestic Rank
2023 Domestic Rank
YoY UK Rank Change
2022 Global Rank
2023 Global Rank
YoY Global Rank Change
Anatomy & Physiology
5=
4
+1
18=
12
up 6
Veterinary Science
4
6
-2
18
21
down 3
Library & Information Management
6=
6
0
51-60
50
up 1**
Education
7
7
0
41
43
down 2
Nursing
7=
7
0
51’100
51’100
0
** When moving from a rank banding, where the rank position is unknown, to a rank position, we use the difference between the minimum in the rank banding and the rank position.
- The Citations per Paper indicator remains Glasgow’s strongest area. Anatomy & Physiology scored 100 , Medicine scored 96.7 and Veterinary Science scored 95. These are Glasgow’s top three scores across all indicators.
- The International Research Network (IRN) indicator, new in 2022, saw QS move from just ranking the 5 broad subjects to ranking in 15 individual University of Glasgow subjects in 2023. Computer Science & Information Systems received the highest score of 78.7 for this indicator.
