Rome university retains top place for Classics in world rankings.

La Sapienza in Rome has been rated the top university in the world for Classical Studies and Ancient History, for the third year in a row, in the 2023 edition of the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings.

The Rome university also came first in Italy for Arts and Humanities and Natural Sciences, in 41st and 44th place respectively in the world rankings which are compiled by the London-based global higher education analysts.

The QS report analyses the performance of university programmes from almost 1,600 universities across 54 academic disciplines, grouped into five broad thematic sections.

• Rome's Sapienza University elects female rector for first time in 700 years

Sapienza achieved an overall excellent performance worldwide, ranking among the top 50 universities in the world in seven subjects and among the top 100 in the world in 21 subjects, reports news agency ANSA.

"For the third consecutive time the classical studies of Sapienza have reached the highest podium in the international ranking QS World University Rankings", said the rector Antonella Polimeni.

"The ranking rewards the humanities of our university, including the first place in Italy for Archaeology, History, Library & Information Management, and History of Art, a subject introduced for the first time this year", Polimeni said.

• Sapienza University to build new library open to Rome citizens

"Sapienza is among the top 50 universities in the world in subjects including Physics-Astronomy and Law, and is in the first place in Italy in just as many disciplines, such as Psychology, Statistics and Nursing", said Polimeni, claiming the result "places us among the best universities in the world".

The 2023 list is once again topped by Massachusetts Institute of Technology, followed by Cambridge, Stanford, Oxford and Harvard. For full rankings see QS website.