Since its inception in 1892 and attainment of the university status in 1926, the University of Reading has been continuously striving to equip its students with the latest facilities, build up international reputation for promoting best quality teaching, research development and global partnerships. In the pursuit of excellence, the University of Reading has emerged as one of the leading universities in the UK and attained global recognition.

The University of Reading has created a niche for itself in the top 1% universities in the world. Let’s learn where the university exactly stands when it comes to world rankings, rankings in the UK and subject-wise rankings.

University of Reading World Rankings

In the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2020, the University of Reading maintained its place in the top 250 higher education institutions in the world out of a total of 1,396 institutions from 92 countries. This certainly gave a reason to a student community of 20,000 students to feel proud about its institution.

However, in the Best Global Universities Rankings list by US News & World Report, Reading acquired #311 position with a global score of 56.2, calculated based upon various ranking indicators. The indicators and the respective ranks obtained by the University of Reading in comparison to other universities are detailed in the following table:

Ranking Indicator Rank
Global research reputation 165
Regional research reputation 272
Publications 482
Books 88
Conferences 899
Normalized citation impact 353
Total citations 410
Number of publications that are among the 10 percent most cited 378
Percentage of total publications that are among the 10 percent most cited 254
International collaboration - relative to country 614
International collaboration 309
Number of highly cited papers that are among the top 1 percent most cited 371
Percentage of highly cited papers that are among the top 1 percent most cited 327

Reading’s performance has been quite good in the QS World University Ranking 2020 as it grabbed #205 position with an overall score of 42.3, outweighing many renowned universities in the world. The overall score can be attributed to the scores obtained by the University in different categories. The details have been summed up in the table given below:

Ranking Parameters Scores
Academic Reputation 33.4
Employer Reputation 34.3
Faculty Student 28.6
Citations per Faculty 53
International Faculty 93.2
International Students 86.4

Let’s look at the ranking trend of the University of Reading over a span of 8 years:

University of Reading Ranking Trends

From the above-given graph it can be inferred that in the year 2016, the University of Reading flared quite well with a world rank of #156, however, since then a constant dip in the rankings has been witnessed. The good thing is that the university has been able to hold 205th position in the ranking table of QS World University Rankings 2020. This clearly indicates that the university is constantly making efforts to maintain its position and give a tough competition to its other counterparts.

University of Reading Country Rankings

The University of Reading has climbed up consecutively for the 3rd year in the Times HIgher Education’s Best University in the UK Rankings list of 2020 by reaching 29th position from 30. Whereas, as per US News & World Report, Reading ended up at #32 position in the ‘Best Global Universities in the UK’ list of 2020 and #132 among best global universities in Europe.

University of Reading Subject-Wise Ranking

The University of Reading has flared well in the subject-wise rankings. Be it US News & World Report or QS Rankings, Reading seems to flare well in both the ranking lists. Let’s learn where the University of Reading stands in terms of different subject areas.

US News & World Report Rankings 2020

Subject Name Rank
Agricultural Science 41
Arts and Humanities 84
Chemistry 571
Economics and Business 161
Engineering 468
Environment/Ecology 76
Geosciences 31
Plant and Animal Science 186
Psychiatry/Psychology 247
Social Sciences and Public Health 356

QS WUR By Subject Ranking

Subject Name Rank Subject Name Rank
Agriculture and Forestry 9 Education and Training 201-250
Archaeology 37 Social Sciences and Management 244
Architecture 51-100 Economics and Econometrics 201-250
Environmental Studies 51-100 Natural Sciences 249
Linguistics 101-150 Modern Languages 251-300
English Language and Literature 101-150 Biological Sciences 251-300
Arts and Humanities 155 Life Sciences and Medicine 330
Accounting and Finance 151-200 Chemistry 301-350
Business and Management Studies 151-200 Engineering and Technology 345
History 151-200 Mathematics 401-450
Art and Design 151-200 Engineering- Electrical and Electronic 151-200
Psychology 201-250 Computer Science and Information Systems 551-600

Hope the ranks presented here will help you in judging the position of the University in the world, in Europe and the UK and draw a comparative analysis.