London takes top spot (again) in ranking of student cities

QS’s “Best Student Cities” ranking for 2023 has been released, and it is informed by the perceptions of more than 98,000 current and former students. This year, 110 cities were evaluated – all of which had to have a population of at least 250,000 to qualify. Several factors contribute to the overall ranking of a city, such as affordability, desirability (perceptions of current students), the feedback of former students, the presence of employers, and the number of highly ranked universities.

According to QS, London, England, is the best city in the world for students, followed by Seoul and Munich (tied for 2nd), Zurich, Melbourne, Berlin, Tokyo, Paris, Sydney, Edinburgh.

The rankings’ methodology is designed to produce a holistic assessment of a city, taking into account the following:

• QS World University rankings 2023
• Student mix (diversity of student population, how welcoming it is to international students)
• Desirability (safety, pollution levels, proportion of students who picked that city as their preferred destination)
• Employment (youth employment rate, employers’ perceptions of graduates from the city’s universities)
• Affordability (cost of living and tuition)
• Student voice (opinions about a city’s friendliness, its approach to sustainability, internationalisation, and more)

London topped the charts for the third consecutive year by “receiving exceptional scores” for the diversity of its student mix, students’ feedback on their overall experience in London, the number of world-class universities in the city, and “employer activity.” It made it to #1 despite placing poorly on the affordability aspect of the rankings. Ben Sowter, QS Senior VP, said,

“Responses to our surveys from students that have studied in London make it clear that it offers outstanding cultural, economic, and educational opportunities. With two of the world’s ten best universities situated in the city, it remains a world-leading educational hub. Worryingly, cities are broadly becoming less affordable for students by QS’ measures, with just under 90% declining in our Affordability metric.”

The full top 20 are:

1. London
2. Seoul and Munich (tied for 2nd)
3. Zurich
4. Melbourne
5. Berlin
6. Tokyo
7. Paris
8. Sydney
9. Edinburgh
10. Boston
11. Hong Kong
12. Singapore
13. Montreal
14. Toronto
15. Vienna
16. Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe
17. New York
18. Lausanne
19. Vancouver

Overall, seven of the top 20 are in Europe, two are in Australia, three are in Canada, two are in the US, and four are in Asia.

Asia did well on the overall list, with 25 cities making the ranking – seven of them for the first time.

For additional background, please see:

• “Latest rankings tables reveal continuing global shifts in economic and academic influence”
• “Surveys show that career outcomes outweigh rankings for many prospective international students”