The University of Hong Kong (HKU)'s education studies programme has been ranked seventh in the latest global league table, making it the only local degree course to be included the global top 10.

It comes as the Times Higher Education (THE) on Wednesday released its annual subject rankings, covering 11 subject areas, including business and economics, medicine, law, and engineering.

Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)'s education programme placed 13th in THE's global rankings, though that was down from 11th in the previous listing, while HKU's education placement also came down by one place this year.

In terms of medical and health studies, HKU climbed three spots to 18th, while CUHK fell two places to 26th.

In business and economics, Polytechnic University climbed to 25th, making its programme the top one locally.

Meanwhile, the computer science programme at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology was ranked 25th, up from the previous listing, while HKU's law course jumped to 27th.

City University of Hong Kong's life sciences programme saw a marked improvement in its rankings, jumping to 80th this year from 96th last year.

A spokesperson for HKU said that the institution achieved outstanding results in this year's THE World University Rankings by Subject, reaffirming its position as a leading institution both globally and locally.

"Locally, HKU secures the top position for nine out of the 11 subjects ranked. Notably, engineering has been ranked first in Hong Kong this year," the spokesperson said.

"[These] achievements reflect the exceptional dedication of its faculty and students – whose frontier research, innovative teaching, and commitment to societal progress continue to elevate University’s global leadership in higher education."

Other than Hong Kong, the release also saw Peking University and Tsinghua University enter the top 10 for computer science and physical sciences, respectively, for the first time.

THE said China was the best-performing Asian country in the rankings, with seven top 10 places, up from the previous four.

The rankings were assessed by using 18 performance metrics, such as teaching, research, and international outlook, and impact on industry.