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Birkbeck arts and humanities rank third in London

College’s programmes rank 52nd in the world in THE league table

Arts and humanities courses at Birkbeck have been ranked third best in London and 11th in the UK in the Times Higher Education (THE) 2015-16 World University Subject Rankings.

Worldwide, the courses — which includes the School of Arts’ literature, theatre and cultural studies programmes, plus the School of Social Sciences, History and Philosophy’s archaeology, classics, history, linguistics and philosophy programmes — have been ranked 52nd in the world.

Widely considered as the most influential university league table in the world, the annual THE World University Rankings rate institutions on their teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook.

The ranking of subject-specific tables, such as Arts and Humanities, are most heavily weighted in terms of an institution’s performance in teaching and the learning environment, plus research volume, income and reputation.

The positive results released this week follow from other significant achievements for Birkbeck including:

  • The School of Arts staff being rated number one in the UK by students for key aspects of their teaching in the annual National Student Survey (NSS)
  • The College’s arts and humanities programmes ranking within the top 10 in the capital in the 2015 QS World Ranking

Professor Hilary Fraser, Dean of the School of Arts said: “We are delighted that the high quality and distinctiveness of arts and humanities at Birkbeck continues to be recognised in this way and that we maintain our high position in the global rankings. Congratulations to colleagues across the College who have contributed to our reputation for world-leading research and teaching in these fields.”

Last month, Birkbeck was congratulated for its “outstanding achievement” in the overall THE World University Rankings 2015-16, having placed within the top 250 universities in the world.

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