The University of Essex has confirmed its top-ten position as one of the UK's elite research universities, and the best in Britain for research in the social sciences.

Essex was ranked ninth in the UK in tables published in The Times, The Guardian and The Independent newspapers today, second only to Cambridge in the East of England.

The results of the national Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), published today, reveal that almost a quarter of the University's research is rated as 'world-leading' in terms of originality, significance and rigour.

With top ranking in Politics, joint top ranking in Sociology, third place for Economics and fourth for Linguistics, the 2008 RAE has emphatically substantiated Essex's position as the leading social science university in the UK. Politics and Economics scored outstanding proportions of 4-star research with 45 per cent and 40 per cent respectively.

Six of our fourteen subject areas were placed in the top five in the country, with History's second place crowning a strong performance in the arts and humanities, with History of Art ninth and Philosophy joint 10th.

There is also a boost for our Essex Business School, which is based on both our Colchester and Southend campuses, with Essex ranked second nationally in the Accounting and Finance subject area. Overall, more than 90 per cent of our research was graded as being recognised internationally for its quality.

The last national RAE was carried out in 2001, and almost every department at the University has improved its position. More than 150 higher education institutions in the UK submitted over 52,000 members of staff to the 2008 RAE, and the quality of their research was assessed by more than 1,000 experts. The RAE is funded by the UK higher education funding councils, and the results will be used to allocate more than £1.5 billion each year to university research.

For further information please see:

http://www.essex.ac.uk/news/event.aspx?e_id=478

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/table/2008/dec/18/rae-2008-results-uk-universities

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00450/results_450712a.xls