The University of Otago – Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka is home to New Zealand's highest ranked subject area in the latest QS World University Rankings by Subject.
Sport-related subjects at Otago has been ranked 11th in the world, continuing its climb from 12th last year.
Elaine Hargreaves
Dean of the School of Physical Education, Sport and Exercise Sciences, Te Kura Para-Whakawai Associate Professor Elaine Hargreaves describes the result as "outstanding".
"I continue to admire and appreciate the work the staff do in the School, which has contributed to this ranking.
"We are conducting rigorous and impactful research that addresses national and international contemporary issues in sport and physical activity. At the same time, we are providing our students with outstanding learning experiences that enable them to be successful in their chosen careers," she says.
Otago maintains its position as one of New Zealand's two top-ranked universities with seven subjects ranked in the top 100 globally.
Alongside sports-related subjects, anatomy and physiology, and dentistry have been ranked in the top 50 subjects globally. Hospitality and leisure management; archaeology; and theology, divinity and religious studies have been ranked in the 51-100 band. Classics and ancient history is in the 51-150 band.
Nursing; pharmacy and pharmacology; philosophy; geography; development studies; and psychology have ranked in the 101-150 band. Anthropology is in the 101-170 band. Medicine; law and legal studies; English language and literature; sociology; and agriculture and forestry have ranked in the 151-200 band.
"These achievements reflect the efforts of our wonderful kaimahi and tauira who are conducting compelling research every day and who are committed to high-quality educational outcomes." – Vice-Chancellor Grant Robertson
A further 10 subjects have ranked between 201 and 300 in the world, and seven more in the global top 500.
Grant Robertson
Vice-Chancellor Grant Robertson says the results help boost Otago's world-class reputation.
"These achievements reflect the efforts of our wonderful kaimahi and tauira who are conducting compelling research every day and who are committed to high-quality educational outcomes.
"One of our strategic goals under Pae Tata is to further enhance our academic standing and global reputation by continuing to improve across all areas of the institution, part of that is having the rankings performance to match."
The 2025 edition of the QS World University Rankings by Subject provide an independent comparative analysis of the performance of more than 18,300 individual academic offerings, taken by students at more than 1,700 universities from 100 locations across the world, across 55 academic disciplines and five broad faculty areas.
