World University Rankings 2019 by subject: social sciences

The 2019 Times Higher Education World University Rankings table for social sciences subjects uses the same rigorous and balanced range of 13 performance indicators as the overall World University Rankings, but the methodology has been recalibrated to suit the individual fields.

It highlights the universities that are leading across sociology, geography, politics and international studies, and communication and media studies subjects. Since 2018, education, law and psychology subjects have not been included in the social sciences table, but make up three separate rankings.

This year, we have made a small adjustment to the eligibility criterion for academic staff in the subject tables, which has resulted in more universities being eligible for inclusion.

The 2019 social sciences ranking has also expanded to include 666 universities, up from 400 last year.

View the World University Rankings 2019 by subject: social sciences methodology

The University of Oxford tops this year’s social sciences table for the second year in a row, after becoming the first UK university to take pole position in the table last year.

Switzerland’s ETH Zurich has overtaken the Netherlands’ University of Amsterdam to become the top continental European university in the table at 20th. Amsterdam is one behind at 21st, while the National University of Singapore heads up Asia’s representatives at 22nd.

China has more than tripled its representation in the ranking, claiming 33 places, up from nine last year. Peking University leads the country at 23rd place, up from 22nd, while Tsinghua has leapt from joint 54th to 37th.

View the full results of the overall World University Rankings 2019
Read our article on the best universities for social sciences degrees

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