Modern Languages at Lancaster University has moved up to joint 66th globally and is situated within the top ten for UK institutions in the latest QS World Rankings by Subject 2025.

Languages and Global Cultures at Lancaster University has consistently performed well in global and national league tables. Situated within the School of Global Affairs, modern language study, covering Chinese-, French-, German-, Italian- and Spanish-speaking worlds, provides students with a thorough understanding of languages, cultures and societies within a global context. Offering innovative languages and cultures teaching, researchers in the School of Global Affairs explore global challenges and social transformations in healthcare, environment, technology, social justice and human rights. Studying for a degree in languages at Lancaster University allows students to develop rich interpersonal, intercultural, cognitive and transferable skills that can be utilised across a variety of careers.

Dr Derek Hird, the Head of the School of Global Affairs, said of the result: "Languages and Global Cultures at Lancaster University is renowned for its innovative research and transformative teaching, driving meaningful change worldwide. Our vibrant and welcoming community of students and staff shares a deep passion for integrating multilingual and cultural perspectives into global conversations. We take pride in our achievements and remain dedicated to delivering an exceptional student experience."

Overall, there have been strong performances in several subject areas within the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Within the broader subject categories, Arts and Humanities at Lancaster University has moved up to 76th joint position and Social Sciences and Management is at joint 132rd.

Updated each year, the QS World Rankings are based on analysis of the reputation and research output of institutions from around the globe. This year, from a group of 5,203 institutions, 1,747 were ranked across 55 individual subjects and five broad subject areas, creating more than 21,000 entries.QS World University Rankings by Subject use a set of indicators with variable weights. Individual subjects are scored according to their performance in areas including: Academic Reputation, Employer Reputation, Citations per Paper and ‘H-Index’ (which quantifies a researcher's scholarly output and influence by tallying their most-cited works and the corresponding citation count).

For more information on Lancaster’s success and scores in individual subjects visit the LU news story. The full QS World University Rankings by Subject can be found at QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025 | Top Universities.