A number of universities in the Netherlands have performed well in the QS World University Subject Rankings.

QS subject rankings

The British firm Quacquarelli Symonds has been publishing its own university rankings since parting ways with Times Higher Education in 2010, and this latest ranking places emphasis on the quality of education per subject in 2.858 universities worldwide.

The rankings take into account elements such as academic reputation, citations and employer reputation, the latter of which makes the QS rankings unique among other methods of ranking.

Dutch university performance

In the Netherlands a total of 15 institutions were ranked in at least one subject, with 13 of these institutions placing within the top 200 in the world. Also, 26 institutions throughout the Netherlands were cited by academics in at least one subject.

The strongest showing from any Dutch university comes from Wageningen University which is ranked as the 2nd best university in the world for agriculture and forestry education. The study of the environmental sciences at Wageningen was ranked the 10th best in the world.

The University of Amsterdam, which was last year ranked as the best Dutch university by QS World University Rankings, performs well in the field of communication and media studies (7th in the world), linguistics (15th) and sociology (16th). 

Other notable achievements

Other notable achievements by Dutch universities include:
›  Delft University of Technology being ranked as the 4th best university in the world to study civil and structural engineering, and the 10th best for chemical engineering.
›  Leiden University placing joint 11th for the study of pharmacy and pharmacology and 28th for the study of history.
›  Erasmus University of Rotterdam ranking 28th in the world for the study of medicine.
›  Utrecht University placing 46th in the world for the study of Earth and marine sciences.

To see the full report click here.