With 10 subjects ranked in the global top 25 and 31 in the top 50 the University of Sydney has continued its strong performance in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2026.   

The rankings also put the University first in Australia in six disciplines. Overall 20 subjects improved their global ranking. 

The QS subject rankings include measures of academic and employer reputation, and research excellence, including citations and international research network.   

The QS World University Rankings by Subject 2026 evaluate over 6,270  universities and rank over 1,900 across 55 narrow subjects and five broad subject areas.  

The University improved its rankings across all five areas, with Life Sciences & Medicine ranking highest at 23rd globally (up from 24th) then Arts and Humanities 28th, (up seven places), Social Sciences and Management 26th, (up 12 places), Engineering and Technology 46th (up 14 places) and Natural Sciences 54th, (up four places).   

“It’s a tribute to all our staff that we continue to improve on our already strong performance in these highly competitive rankings,” said Vice- Chancellor and President Professor Mark Scott. 

“It reflects on our ongoing commitment to excellence in research, learning and teaching, as we continue to tackle the greatest challenges of our community and to fully equip our students for their future roles.”  

Within the 55 narrow disciplines ranked the University maintained its excellent result of having 52 subjects in the top 100 globally. It had ten narrow disciplines in the top 25 globally including Sport, our top ranked subject, continuing to be ranked third in the world for the second year in a row. 

The nine other narrow subjects in the global top 25 are Philosophy 16th globally (moving up 18 places), Veterinary Science 16th (up from 21st), Law 17th (up from 18th), Nursing 19th (up from 20th), Pharmacy & Pharmacology (20th), Geography 24th (up from 25th), Anatomy & Physiology (25th),  English Language & Literature 25th (up from 26th) and Education 25th (up from 26th).     

Domestically, the University ranked first in Australia across six narrow subject areas:

• Veterinary Science - 16th up five places from 21
• Music - 26th, ranked for the first time this year
• History of Art - 26th
• Mathematics - 35th up from 38th
• Statistics & Operational Research- 51st
• Classics & Ancient History – 51st

University of Sydney Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Mike Ryan said, “I congratulate our research community on these impressive results underpinned by our strong research networks, reputation and record of citations.” 

Just some of our recent research from the University includes:  

• the lack of evidence medicinal cannabis is effective to treat depression, anxiety and PTSD
• how opioids aren't effective for many acute pain conditions
• that statins do not cause the majority of conditions listed in their package leaflets, including memory loss, depression and sleep disturbance
• honeybees collecting nectar from a ‘buffet’ of Australian native plants made honey with anti-microbial abilities more potent than ‘single origin’ honey made from only one source of plant or flower
• Australian researchers building and ultra-compact artificial intelligence chip that is able to make calculations using the power of light, at the speed of light
• the Sydney PhD student who recreated cosmic dust in her lab shedding new light on how the chemical building blocks of life may have formed long before Earth existed
• showing for the first time empirically that music can keep you company by facilitating imagined social interactions  

The University placed equal 25th globally with Princeton in the QS World University Rankings released in 2025. In the latest Times Higher Education World University Rankings the University ranked 53rd in the world, up eight places from the previous year.