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Top subjects in Northern Ireland 2025
Do you want to study in Northern Ireland? Check out the top subjects to study in Northern Ireland and find out more about the region and its universities.

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Studying in Northern Ireland
There are two main universities in Northern Ireland and what the region might lack in quantity, it certainly makes up for in quality. Both universities are consistently in our top 50 UK university rankings with Queen鈥檚 University, Belfast in 25th place and Ulster University in 42nd in 2025.
Northern Ireland is in the north-west of the UK and shares a border with the Republic of Ireland. Its dramatic landscape is often used in films, and Game of Throne fans might recognise some of it from those memorable battle scenes. The Giant鈥檚 Causeway is its most famous landmark. Belfast, an energetic, affordable, and interesting city, is where you鈥檙e likely to spend a lot of your time as a student.
To find out more about studying in Northern Ireland check out our regional guide
Queen鈥檚 University Belfast
Queen鈥檚 University is a compact campus about a 15-minute walk from Belfast city centre. The uni guarantees accommodation to first year students from outside Northern Ireland and there鈥檚 lots going on with a new student centre and more than 200 clubs and societies to choose from.
To find out more about QUB visit their profile
Subject | Rank in Subject table |
---|---|
Agriculture & Forestry | 1 |
Pharmacology & Pharmacy | 2 |
Social Work | 2 |
Celtic Studies | 3 |
Food Science | 3 |
Information Technology & Systems | 3 |
Accounting & Finance | 5 |
Biomedical Sciences | 7 |
Dentistry | 7 |
Nursing & Midwifery | 7 |
Queen鈥檚 University is ranked first in the subject table for Agriculture and second for Pharmacology, and Social Work, so it鈥檚 easy to see why these are also popular subjects to study here.
Queen's are also rankied top five in the UK for Celtic Studies, Food Science, Information Technology and Accounting.
Information Technology at Queen鈥檚 makes the most of its network with over 500 IT companies both here and abroad. There are more software companies located in Northern Ireland than in any other part of the UK, outside of London.
Ulster University
Ulster University has four distinctive campuses in Belfast and Derry, all offering friendly and affordable places to live. The university guarantees any first-year student accommodation on-site providing the deadline for room applications is met. Its reputation in research and strong emphasis on skills-based practice is perhaps why so many of its graduates get jobs or are inspired to do further study.
To find out more about Ulster visit their profile
Subject | Rank in subject table |
---|---|
Optometry, Ophthalmics & Orthoptics | 1 |
Land & Property Management | 2 |
Speech & Language Therapy | 2 |
Building | 4 |
Celtic Studies | 4 |
Information Technology & Systems | 4 |
Pharmacology & Pharmacy | 4 |
Food Science | 6 |
Health Studies | 7 |
Physiotherapy | 7 |
Ulster University has a solid reputation in several subject areas, coming top in Optometry, Ophthalmics & Orthoptics and ranking second in Land and Property Management and Speech and Language Therapy subject tables. Building, Celtic Studies, Information Technology and Pharmacology also perform well, making up the seven best ranked subjects to study at Ulster.
The Belfast based Land and Property Management course focuses on planning, regeneration and development. Various architectural subjects are covered in Ulster鈥檚 Building offer and you can choose to focus on sports and exercise nutrition, food business or culinary arts among other options within Food Science.
Check out the top unis in other UK regions
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