The global standing of subjects and academic disciplines taught at Leeds has improved in the latest QS World University Rankings by Subject, published today (25 March).
The QS World University Rankings by Subject ranks the world’s top universities in individual subject areas, covering 55 disciplines. Courses are ranked according to five indicators, including academic reputation, employer reputation and research excellence.
Leeds has 47 individual subjects in the global top 200, with 12 of these in the top 50 and 29 in the top 100.
The rankings also measure performance in what QS calls broad subject areas. The University is ranked in the top 100 for all five of these and has enjoyed an increase in position in four out of the five areas. Notably, Natural Sciences has risen from joint 105th in 2025 to joint 76th in 2026.
Professor Hai Sui Yu, Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor, said: "I am pleased to see the University’s excellence recognised and I’d like to thank the colleagues responsible for our impressive gains.
"These rankings demonstrate our broad expertise as well as individual areas of strength. We also recognise that some subjects have dropped, and it is important for us to analyse the information and understand and act on the reasons for that.
"We are proud of our reputation at Leeds, and these results demonstrate the value of a Leeds degree to our students - past, present and future."
Individual subject rankings
The University’s top-ranking subjects globally are:
Professor Paul Johnson, Executive Dean for the Faculty of Environment and Faculty of Social Sciences, said: "These brilliant results demonstrate the truly world-leading activities of colleagues across the schools which, combined together, make Leeds the powerhouse that it is.
"Colleagues should feel so proud of their outstanding work and collective enterprise that has resulted in this important recognition."
There were also some notable rises for other subjects, with Law increasing from the 101-150 group to 69th and Business and Management Studies moving up from 102nd to 77th.
Broad Subject Rankings Summary
The University’s global ranking in QS’ Broad Subject Rankings are:
QS World University Rankings by Subject 2026 methodology
To produce these rankings, QS analysed the reputation and research output of almost 6,277 institutions. From this group, 1,912 were ranked across 55 narrow subjects and five broad subject areas, creating over 21,000 entries.
You can see the full detail and all the individual rankings on the QS website.
