When you decided which subject you wanted to study at university, there’s a good chance that you probably checked out your university’s ranking.

After all, if you’re going to dedicate time and money to a particular subject, you want your university to be top notch.

This may be just as, or more, important to you as a postgraduate student – especially if you’ve decided to study abroad.

But how might your university fair compared with a university in another country? Has it ever occurred to you to find out?

Well, QS world rankings recently published their results on which universities ranked the highest - by subject.

We’ve decided to break this down and find out which European countries came out on top by subject type.

You never know, you might just discover a new destination to in which to be a postgraduate.

Having taken the top spot in THE’s World Rankings just last year, it’s no surprise that the UK makes it into the number one spot for its subject rankings too.

It will also probably come as no surprise either that two of the UK’s top 5 universities have come in first and second place: The University of Oxford and The University of Cambridge respectively.

The UK actually ranked the highest of all EU universities for all subjects – now that’s pretty impressive!

Arts & Humanities is however the UK’s most renowned subject, with Social Sciences and Life Sciences following closely behind.

So, if you fancy taking up English Language or Literature, Performing Arts, Architecture or History, consider the UK as your first choice too.

(You can view a full list of Arts and Humanities and other subject disciplines on the QS website.)

So, the UK isn’t the only country stealing more than one spot in the subject rankings.

Switzerland has ranked in the top 10 for both Engineering & Technology and Natural Sciences.

And amazingly, it is ETH Zurich which is single-handedly holding Switzerland’s top spot, holding 5th place for Engineering and 6th place for Natural Sciences.

From Computer Science to Chemical Engineering, Environmental Science to Mathematics, Switzerland is our winner here.

It’s worth noting, however, that Germany is in the top 20 for Natural Sciences, as is the Netherlands for Engineering and Technology.

So, Switzerland doesn’t have to steal all the fun.

It is extremely easy to see why Life Sciences & Medicine goes hand-in-hand with Sweden.

An extremely innovative country, Sweden is reputable for many medical resolutions, such as the pacemaker, ultrasound technology and the HIV tracker.

So, Sweden has a lot to brag about, besides simply being the home of the Nobel Prize.

And aside from Medicine, Sweden is also leading the way for Agriculture, Biological Sciences, Dentistry, Veterinary Science and Psychology.

Karolinka Institutet is the university responsible for Sweden’s high rank, coming in 7th place.

Might Sweden be your new study spot?

Bocconi University comes in the top 20 for Social Sciences & Management, meaning Italy takes the top spot, after the UK, for Europe.

Home to some of the world’s most fascinating attractions, studying a Masters in Tourism Management here would be extremely apt.

Or, if Accounting & Finance is more your style, why not see if you can do a placement year here? After all, it is the country that founded banking as early as 1397!

With a whole wealth of disciplines to choose from – including Law, Media Studies and Education – you’ll never be at a loss for a career to pursue here.