School of Social and Political Science

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Five School of Social and Political Science (SPS) subject areas have improved or maintained their standing among the world's leading universities, according to the latest QS World University Rankings by Subject - with Social Policy regaining its top 10 position.

Now in its 16th year, the 2026 edition is the biggest in the rankings' history - evaluating more than 21,000 academic programmes at around 1,900 institutions across 100 countries, with over 300 institutions appearing for the first time. That expanding field makes Edinburgh's continued top-tier performance all the more significant.

Our rankings

While not all SPS subject areas have corresponding categories in the rankings, the following are included and among the top ranked in the world and the UK:

Our Social Policy subject area comes under QS's 'Social Policy and Administration' category. Our Social Anthropology subject area comes under QS's 'Anthropology' category. Our Development Studies result reflects SPS’ Centre of African Studies, which hosts the MSc International Development and MSc Africa and International Development programmes.

Social Policy's rise to 10th in the world is driven by an academic reputation score of 93.6 - placing Edinburgh 8th globally for peer esteem in the discipline alone. Politics and International Relations saw a strong year-on-year movement of the core SPS subjects, climbing four places to 27th in the world. Sociology moved up two places to 28th, while Social Anthropology held its position at 17th - a strong result in a year when the rankings expanded significantly.

Development Studies recorded a dramatic improvement, rising from the 51-100 band into a confirmed 30th place in the world and 12th in the UK - reflecting the strength of the Centre of African Studies and its internationally regarded postgraduate programmes.

SPS Head of School Professor John Devaney said: “It is positive to see the standing that social policy and other subjects in the School have internationally through the QS World University Rankings. The rankings are compiled through a number of sources of information, including an assessment by senior academics from our disciplines. Given that the University of Edinburgh was ranked very highly in 34th place, it is even more impressive that social policy at Edinburgh was ranked 10th, with the other disciplines in the School included in the ranking also being highly rated”

Head of Social Policy, Professor Daniel Clegg commented: “The QS World University Rankings are one of the most widely-read and respected international benchmarks for academic excellence. So it is really pleasing to see Social Policy at the University of Edinburgh re-enter the top 10 social policy and administration groups in the world in the 2026 edition of the subject rankings. It’s a great testament to the quality and reputation of the research and impact work that colleagues in the subject area are doing, as well as the excellence of our teaching programmes and commitment to ensuring a great student experience.”

About the rankings

The QS World University Rankings by Subject draw on insights from more than 151,000 academics and 100,000 employers worldwide, as well as analysis of 16.4 million academic papers. Each subject is assessed across five indicators: academic reputation, employer reputation, citations per paper, H-index, and international research network.

Crucially, the academic survey is filtered by specialism - responses from academics with expertise in a specific discipline carry greater weight, meaning Edinburgh's social sciences rankings reflect the considered judgement of peers who actually work in these fields.

QS is also notable as the only major global ranking to incorporate employer reputation as a distinct measure - reflecting how highly the graduates of each institution are valued by the organisations that hire them. For subjects where research publication rates are lower, such as the social sciences, peer and employer reputation carry even greater weight in the overall score, making these results a particularly meaningful signal of Edinburgh's global standing.

See the full QS World University Rankings by Subject 2026 here.