Published: 03 Mar 2021 | Last Updated: 05 Mar 2021 10:25:01

The Royal Veterinary College (RVC) has been named as the top veterinary school in the QS World University Rankings 2021.

Compiled by global higher education analysts, QS Quacquarelli Symonds, the rankings provide authoritative comparative analysis on the performance of 14,435 individual university programs, taken by students at 1,452 universities in 86 locations around the world, across 51 academic disciplines and five broad Faculty Areas. The rankings are determined by a range of criteria, including academic reputation, research impact, number of citations, employer reputation and the h-index.

In addition to maintaining a perfect score for the Academic Reputation indicator (100) for a second year running, the University saw improvements across every single category. Research impact was recognised with the RVC scoring 98.9 in Citations per Paper. This was supported by the 97.5 score for h-index, surpassing 2020’s 96.9.

Rankings for Employer Reputation also increased by 29 per cent since 2020, with the RVC now scoring 83.3.

Professor Stuart Reid, Principal of the RVC, said:

“Last year, we made a commitment to redouble our efforts in seeking to regain the top spot in the QS rankings, and I am delighted that we have achieved it. This would be remarkable in normal times but, in the context of COVID-19, it is all the more so and a real tribute to the whole RVC community. It is the result of enormous efforts made by all RVC staff and students, and I could not be prouder to be Principal of the RVC. The QS rankings are important for our reputation and international standings. With so many outstanding veterinary schools worldwide and with peer recognition one of the metrics, it is particularly pleasing to be first amongst equals.”

Jack Moran, public relations executive at QS Quacquarelli Symonds said:

“The latest edition of the QS World University Rankings by Subject again illuminate the increasingly-intense efforts made by universities around the world to improve their offerings – the student experience, career preparation, industry engagement, research impact, teaching innovation. In this context, all those at The Royal Veterinary College deserve especial congratulations for their tireless work to maintain their world-leading veterinary science programs. With the sentiments of 5,000 employers in the sector – those that specifically seek to hire Veterinary Science graduates – contributing to this ranking, the results serve to offer independent verification from hiring managers about the enduring quality of the RVC’s graduates.”

Established in 1791 and based in London and Hertfordshire, the RVC is the oldest veterinary school in the English-speaking world. The RVC was the first veterinary school in the world to be fully accredited by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS), the American Veterinary Medical Association Council on Education (AVMA COE), European Association of Establishments for Veterinary Education (EAEVE), and Australasian Veterinary Boards Council Inc. (AVBC), which allows graduates to practice as veterinary surgeons, researchers and scientists across the world.

The RVC offers internationally recognised degrees in veterinary medicine and nursing at undergraduate and postgraduate level. As well as these courses, the RVC has a well-established suite of biological sciences courses, which are accredited by the Royal Society of Biology. The specific research led focus of the MSci programmes, and the added value of the Certificate in Work Based Learning had recently been recognised with Advanced Accreditation by the RSB.

All these programmes complement the institution’s veterinary remit and are underpinned by an intensive research portfolio – which has previously been judged as the best in England by the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014.

The full set of rankings can be found at: QS World University Rankings by Subject.

Join us in celebrating being voted the world’s leading vet school on social media.

Notes to Editors