London has been ranked as the top city in the world for university students. The list of top 30 rankings for student cities by QS higher education group is produced based on factors such as the number of top universities in a city, the local jobs market, culture diversity and quality of life. It also include a survey of the opinions of 50,000 students. This is a mean to quantify some of the attractions and disadvantages of cities for students.
London is one of the most cosmopolitan and culturally diverse cities for students in London with many more prominent universities in comparison to other cities including Imperial College, University College London, the London School of Economics and King’s College. Students not only have entry to the cultural life of museums, theatres, cinemas and restaurants; but can also have better employment opportunities.
In the second place is Tokyo, Japan. The city has excelled in terms of the “desirability” which is determined based on safety, pollution and quality of living; while Australia has been aiming to gain a greater share of the international students market with Melbourne being ranked as the third best student city and Sydney coming in at the ninth position.
Edinburgh is Scotland’s highest ranked university city standing at 16th place; while US universities dominate in the academic World University Rankings.
The top 10 ‘welcoming’ student cities include two from Berlin and Munich, Germany; while Paris has been the top-rated city standing at the fifth position for several years now. In terms of the most affordable student cities, Budapest, Hungary made it to the top of the list, followed by Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The top two factors for international students include their perception of the quality of teaching and whether university locations are regarded as being “welcoming”. Based on the international student survey of 67,000 potential applications, Brexit has been deemed as one of the factors affecting prospective students’ interest to pursue an education in the UK. They have concerns that Brexit will make the UK university education fee more expensive and “less welcoming” to students from EU countries.
Best Student Cities 2018
- London
- Tokyo
- Melbourne
- Montreal
- Paris
- Munich
- Berlin
- Zurich
- Sydney
- Seoul
- Vienna
- Hong Kong
- Toronto
- Boston
- Singapore
- Edinburgh
- Vancouver
- New York
- Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe
- Taipei
- Brisbane
- Canberra
- Auckland
- Manchester
- Buenos Aires
- Beijing
- Amsterdam
- Moscow
- Shanghai
- Prague
Source: BBC