Nine subject areas at Essex are listed in the top 200 by the QS World University Rankings by Subject – highlighting the University’s world-leading strengths in the social sciences and humanities.

Five departments in the Faculty of Social Sciences and four departments in the Faculty of Humanities are now ranked in the top 200.

Sociology at Essex is ranked 24th in the world with Politics also ranked in the top 100. Philosophy and Economics have moved up to be ranked in the top 150 alongside Linguistics.

English Language and Literature plus Law have moved into the top 200 to join Accounting and Finance and History.

Professor Sean Nixon, Head of the Department of Sociology, said: “Essex Sociology has an outstanding reputation for the quality and range of its research and we have consistently been ranked as the top department for sociology in the UK in the national Research Assessment Exercise.

“This year has seen our academics continue to publish influential research across a wide range of fields from environmental sociology, criminology, social and cultural history, anthropology, sociological theory, Human Rights and Migration Studies to economic sociology and digital sociology. We remain committed to bringing that research into our work with students in order to offer them a transformative educational experience.”

For the QS rankings nearly 3,000 universities are ranked according to a range of factors which are weighted for each subject area including academic reputation, citations, employability, productivity and impact.

Professor Jonathan Lichtenstein, Head of the Department of Literature, Film, and Theatre Studies, was pleased to see Essex’s reputation for challenging and provocative research lead to its inclusion in the top 200 for English Language and Literature.

He said: “We have a great tradition of nurturing writers and thinkers here at Essex. Our distinctive approach means the breadth of our expertise stretches from literatures in English, through to French, Italian, Latin American and United States writers. Our scholars are influential and of international standing and the Department includes acclaimed poets and playwrights. The combination of scholarship and creative writing has combined to create a particularly dynamic and exciting departmental ethos.”

Top ranking subjects at Essex according to the QS World Rankings by Subject:

• Sociology
• Politics and International Studies
• Economics
• Linguistics
• Philosophy
• Accounting and Finance.
• English Language and Literature
• History
• Law