DURHAM University has reinforced its position as a world-leading centre of scholarship according to the latest world rankings by subject.

The university’s department of geography was ranked fifth in the world, and four other subjects; earth and marine sciences, English language and literature, history and physics and astronomy also appeared in the world top 50.

A further six subjects – chemistry, law, modern languages, philosophy, politics and international studies and sociology – were ranked among the top 100 in the world.

The QS World University Rankings by Subject are published annually by Quaquarelli Symonds (QS), which provides rankings for individual subjects.

QS also provides a league table for overall rankings which will be published in the autumn.

In this year’s rankings, 2,858 universities were evaluated and 678 institutions were ranked.

This strong performance in the QS rankings follows Durham’s success in the Complete University Guide (CUG) 2014, published in April.

The CUG ranked Durham among the top five UK universities for the third consecutive year, with 93 per cent of the university’s subjects ranked in the top ten in their field.

A spokesman for the university said: “These achievements demonstrate Durham’s commitment to achieve the highest levels of excellence in education and research.”

Durham is ranked among the world’s top 100 universities and is in the top 20 globally for employer reputation when it comes to the quality of – and demand for – its graduates.

Vice-chancellor Professor Chris Higgins said: “Durham University is pleased to have maintained such a consistently high position in the QS World Rankings by Subject, further confirming we are among the top universities in the world.

“Our students benefit from excellent research and teaching delivered by world-leading academics, combined with our collegiate system and access to superb extra-curricular activities and opportunities such as sport, the arts and community outreach.

“The Durham experience gives students the opportunity to develop crucial skills such as leadership, critical thinking and entrepreneurship that make our graduates some of the most sought-after in the world by leading employers.”