The 10 most popular THE rankings stories of 2021

It’s perhaps no surprise that two stories relating to the impact that Covid-19 has had on university performance bookend our list of the most read stories of 2021, given that the pandemic and its effects rage on across the world.

However, several other topics also caught readers’ attention this year, including UK universities’ success in contributing towards the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and humanities and social sciences scholars’ increasing recognition of Chinese institutions.

Below are the top 10 most-read rankings articles of the year, based on website traffic. In all cases, the tables were devised, compiled and published by THE.

For more information on our university rankings, visit the World University Rankings home page.

10. Health and science subject rankings 2022: results announced

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The UK reinforced its world-leading performance in health sciences teaching and research in a year when its top institutions were at the forefront of the global response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

9. Arab University Rankings 2021: results announced

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In July, we published a brand new ranking focused on the Arab region and the results demonstrated that universities in Saudi Arabia were leading the pack.

8. Emerging Economies University Rankings 2022: results announced

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Several Russian universities improved in our latest ranking for emerging economies published in October, with the country now home to the joint second highest number of institutions in the top 200.

7. WSJ/THE US College Rankings 2022: Johns Hopkins joins top 10

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Johns Hopkins University joined the top 10 of our student-focused US ranking for the first time in September.

6. Asia University Rankings 2021: power couples

Do neighbouring institutions in Asia work closely together to boost their overall standing or do they tend to play to their strengths in a particular discipline? This was the question we explored in an analysis of the data behind our latest Asia University Rankings.

5. World Reputation Rankings 2021: results announced

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The rising global reputation of Chinese universities is usually attributed to their scientific prowess, but the data behind our World Reputation Rankings 2021 revealed that it is also being driven by research and education in the humanities and social sciences.

4. Computer science and engineering subject rankings 2022: results announced

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Our second subject ranking story to make the list found that the US and UK continue to be world leaders in computer science and engineering, but Australian universities are making considerable gains.

3. Asia University Rankings 2021: results announced

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Autumn foliage at the University of Tokyo

In June, we revealed that Japan is home to two of the top 10 universities in Asia for the first time in six years.

2. Impact Rankings 2021: results announced

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University of Manchester

A UK university topped our sustainability-focused rankings for the first time back in April amid a broader trend of improvement for the nation, but there were concerns that this could be undermined by cuts to research funding.

1. World University Rankings 2022: results announced

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Universities that published medical sciences research relating to Covid-19 saw a significant boost in their citation impact in our latest World University Rankings, but it is still unclear whether the pandemic will reshape or entrench existing hierarchies in global higher education.