HK unis shine in global rankings by subject despite rising regional competition

Hong Kong is grappling with intensifying competition from regional rivals in higher education, even as five of its academic disciplines ranked among the world’s top 10 in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2026.

The University of Hong Kong maintained its global no 2 ranking in dentistry, while its education program slipped from third to fifth.

Chinese University’s nursing program placed sixth, down one spot from last year.

Polytechnic University’s top-ranked subject, hospitality and leisure management, came in at 15th, four places lower than in 2025.

The University of Science and Technology’s strongest field, data science and artificial intelligence, fell eight places to 25th.

City University’s linguistics program rose two places to 36th, while Baptist University made its debut in the rankings with classics and ancient history at 38th.

The Education University of Hong Kong’s education program climbed from 12th to seventh, and the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts advanced from 20th to 10th in performing arts.

The latest QS rankings assessed more than 21,000 subjects across 1,900 institutions in 100 countries and territories, based on criteria including academic reputation and citation impact.

Ten Hong Kong universities appeared in the rankings with 236 subjects across 30 academic areas.

Of these, 64 subjects improved their positions, 140 declined, 41 remained unchanged and 21 entered the list for the first time.

HKBU recorded seven new entries, the most among local institutions, followed by Metropolitan University with six.

QS also described arts and humanities as Hong Kong’s “hidden strength,” noting that despite the system’s relatively small scale, its performance rivals Japan, and surpasses Taiwan and South Korea.

QS senior vice president Ben Sowter described Hong Kong’s higher education system as “one of Asia’s most competitive, distinguished not by scale but by concentration of excellence.”

He noted that more than half of the city’s ranked entries placed in the global top 50, a ratio matched in Asia only by Singapore.

At the same time, he cautioned that competitive pressures are mounting, with Hong Kong recording the second-highest net decline rate in Asia this year behind South Korea.

Sowter said the challenge ahead is to translate top-tier excellence into more consistent performance across the full subject portfolio, while emphasizing that the fundamentals remain strong.

He pointed to computer science, business and management, sociology, linguistics and education as areas of particular depth, positioning Hong Kong firmly as a leading regional and global study destination.