"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." Prof Stuart Reid.

University achieves perfect score in academic reputation indicator.

The Royal Veterinary College (RVC) has achieved the number one ranking among veterinary schools in the 2021 QS World University Rankings.

The rankings, compiled by QS Quacquarelli Symonds, provide comparative analysis on the performance of 14,435 individual university programs at 1,452 universities around the world. The rankings are determined by a range of criteria, including academic reputation, research impact, number of citations, employer reputation and the h-index.

For the second year running, the RVC maintained a perfect score for the academic reputation indicator (100). It also saw improvements across every single category, scoring 98.9 in citations per paper and raising its h-index score to 97.5. 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: “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.”