Results of the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2026
With a total of 60 Italian universities (up from 56 in 2025) appearing 769 times in the rankings—671 entries in individual subjects and 98 across the five broad study areas—Italy ranks as the seventh most represented country in the world (after the United States, China, the United Kingdom, India, France, and Germany) in the 16th annual edition of the QS World University Rankings by Subject, published today by QS Quacquarelli Symonds, a global higher education analytics firm.
The ranking independently analyzes more than 21,000 academic programs at over 1,900 universities across more than 100 countries, covering 55 subjects and five broad areas of study (Arts & Humanities, Engineering & Technology, Life Sciences & Medicine, Natural Sciences, and Social Sciences & Management).
Of all Italy’s total entries, 28% improved, 35% remained stable, and 24% declined, while 97 are new entries—resulting in a net improvement of 4% compared to the previous year. Italian universities earned 163 positions in the global top 100 across the 55 subject rankings and the five broad fields. Sapienza University of Rome retains first place worldwide in Classics & Ancient History for the sixth consecutive year, a hallmark of Italy’s consistently world-class performance.
PERFORMANCE BY SUBJECT – Medicine is the most represented field, with 38 Italian universities ranked (up from 33 in 2025). This is followed by Biological Sciences (31), Physics & Astronomy (27), and Computer Science & Information Systems (26). Bocconi University continues to lead Italy in business-related disciplines, ranking 9th in Marketing and 10th in Economics & Management. Luiss University ranks first in Italy for Politics & International Studies, placing 23rd globally. In the emerging field of Data Science & Artificial Intelligence, Italy increased from three ranked universities in 2025 to seven in 2026, with Politecnico di Milano leading nationally at 32nd place.
EXCELLENCE: WHERE ITALY REACHES THE TOP OF GLOBAL RANKINGS – At the very top of the rankings, Italian representation is concentrated in a limited number of institutions. Only a few universities place subjects in the global top 10: Sapienza University of Rome with three entries, Politecnico di Milano and Bocconi University with two each, and Scuola Normale Superiore with one.
Alongside these top placements, Italy records several other notable results: Politecnico di Milano ranks 6th in Architecture / Built Environment; Bocconi University is 9th in Marketing; Scuola Normale Superiore is 10th in Classics & Ancient History; Iuav University of Venice is 14th in Art History; Politecnico di Torino is 18th in Architecture / Built Environment; and the University of Bologna is 19th in Archaeology. Taken together, these results clearly highlight Italy’s strengths in the global landscape: classical studies, architecture, art and design, archaeology, and selected areas of the social and economic sciences. These sectors play a crucial role in shaping the country’s international reputation, showcasing the interplay of cultural tradition, design expertise, heritage, and research quality.
According to Nunzio Quacquarelli, President of QS, “This year’s results show that Italy has a strong university system with global visibility and several highly distinctive strengths. Universities such as Bologna and Sapienza demonstrate the enduring value of Italy’s public institutions, while Sapienza’s continued first-place ranking in Classics & Ancient History for the sixth consecutive year is an example of sustained global excellence in a field deeply tied to the country’s intellectual and cultural heritage.
At the same time, the results highlight structural challenges facing Italy’s higher education sector. For Italy, the challenge is not simply to preserve its long-standing strengths, but to further develop them through continued investment in research capacity, international collaboration, talent attraction and retention, and a broader distribution of excellence across institutions and disciplines. Italy possesses the academic heritage, institutional foundation, and disciplinary diversity needed to compete effectively on the global stage. The next step is to translate that potential into consistently high performance across the system.”
ITALY IN THE EUROPEAN CONTEXT – Italy ranks third among EU countries by number of ranked universities, behind France (93) and Germany (72), but second in total entries, surpassed only by Germany. Italy is one of three EU countries with a subject ranked first globally, alongside Sweden and the Netherlands, which each lead with two first-place entries. Italy also ranks second in the EU for both top 10 and top 20 entries, again behind only the Netherlands. Italy records the third-highest year-over-year improvement (7%) among EU countries with at least 50 entries, tied with the Czech Republic. Only Portugal (14%) and Poland (11%) show greater net improvement.
LOOKING AHEAD: THE CHALLENGE IS BUILDING A SYSTEM – According to QS Quacquarelli Symonds, the 2026 results “show an Italian university system capable of producing globally recognized excellence, but still less effective at turning it into systemic strength. Alongside peaks of outstanding performance, there remain disparities in research capacity, pressure on resources, international competition for talent, and difficulties in consolidating results on a broader scale. The challenge for Italy is not to prove it has excellence, but to sustain it over time, expand it, and make it more widespread across disciplines, institutions, and strategic areas of global academic competitiveness.”
In particular, Sapienza ranks first in the world in Classics & Ancient History and places in the global top ten for both Archaeology and Art History: this is the first time an Italian university has placed three subjects in the QS World University Rankings by Subject top 10.
The 2026 edition confirms Sapienza’s global leadership in classical studies for the sixth consecutive year – the only world-leading subject held by an Italian university – and also rewards the humanities, with 7th place overall in both Archaeology (up from 11th) and History of Art (up from 18th).
“The new QS World University Rankings by Subject 2026 consolidates our university’s excellence,” said Rector Antonella Polimeni, “with the confirmation of global leadership in Classics & Ancient History for the sixth consecutive year, and advancement into the top 10 in Archaeology and History of Art. These results are a tangible testament to the consistent scientific commitment, passion, and dedication of an academic community capable of preserving a millennia-old cultural heritage while projecting it into the future through internationally oriented research and teaching that consistently places it among the world’s top institutions.”
Sapienza also improves in the number of subjects ranked in the global top 50, rising from 4 in 2025 to 6 in 2026. These include Classics & Ancient History (1), Archaeology (7), History of Art (7), and Physics & Astronomy (38), with Modern Languages (42) and Pharmacy & Pharmacology (48) newly entering the top 50. Among the top 100, Sapienza ranks first in Italy with 26 subjects; in total entries, it ranks second nationally with 46 subjects.
Source: Askanews
