Top universities for arts & humanities subjects 2022

Art & design is another subject ranking which prominently features specialist institutions, with the Royal College of Art topping the table for yet another year.

Whether it's the ancient Roman buildings or the ruins of Pompeii, you don't have to go far when in Italy to encounter a remnant of the country's rich history. Given this, Sapienza University of Rome's position at the top of the classics & ancient history ranking makes a lot of sense. Germany, France and the UK are also well-represented in the top 10.

Oxford and Cambridge continue to lead the way in English language & literature, holding off the challenge from several top US universities to be ranked first and second respectively. Further down the ranking, both Canada and Australia are also represented in the top 20.

History is another subject ranking dominated by UK and US universities, with Harvard scoring just ahead of both Oxford and Cambridge which are tied in second place. American students or international students looking to study in the US have plenty of top universities to choose from.

Our linguistics top 10 is actually a top 11 with two Asian universities tied in 10th place. At the very top of the ranking, Massachusetts is clearly the linguistics capital of the world with the top two universities for linguistics both based there.

The University of Tokyo is the one institution in our modern languages top 10 that isn't located in either the UK or the US. At the very top of the ranking, the University of Oxford just manages to outperform its rival the University of Cambridge.

While many of the world's prestigious universities excel in a wide range of subjects, it's clear that the best universities to study performing arts are specialist institutions. All of this year's top 10 offer specialised teaching in performing arts rather than covering a broader academic curriculum.

English-speaking study destinations dominate the philosophy ranking - as they have for several arts & humanities subjects. The Australian National University in Canberra becomes the first university from Australia to be mentioned in this rundown of top 10 universities.