The Korean capital was the only city to gain an overall score of 100, with the rankings based on various measures from the strength of its universities and their appeal to employers, to affordability and the views of students.
“Seoul’s repeat title reflects sustained investment in higher education,” said QS senior vice president Ben Sowter. “To top a field of 150 cities once is an achievement; to do it twice in succession, and with a perfect score, speaks to something durable”.
“South Korea is showing that quality is spreading across the country, not pooling in one place,” added Sowter, highlighting the depth beyond the capital, with Daejeon and Gwangju entering the rankings for the first time, bringing the total to five.
While the podium positions remain unchanged from last year, Australian cities saw notable rises, with Melbourne and Sydney climbing into the world’s top five student cities, with the latter tied with Munich to complete the top five.
Berlin was the second-highest German city, drawing with Paris at 7th place, while the German capital was rated first in the world by students themselves.
The rise of Melbourne and Sydney gave Australia more cities in the top five than any other country, as well as being home to the world’s two most diverse cities, though affordability remains a challenge for all of its seven ranked locations.
Meanwhile, 16 UK cities placed in the 150-strong ranking – the most appearances of any country and highlighting the breadth of the sector. Behind London, Edinburgh climbed two places to 15th, and Glasgow climbed four places to reach 35th.
To qualify for the index, a city needs a population of above 250,000 and at least two universities in the QS World Rankings, excluding celebrated but smaller university towns such as Oxford and Cambridge, noted QS.
South Korea is showing that quality is spreading across the country, not pooling in one place
Ben Sowter, QS
QS said London owed its third-place position to the strength of its universities and to what students say about living there, while cost was identified as the “single weakness” dragging the capital down below the two Asian cities above it. Strikingly, no British city ranked higher than 95th of 150 on affordability.
Meanwhile, Tokyo retains second place as Japanese cities were buoyed by employer strength and affordability.
It comes as the Japanese government has achieved its ambitious internationalisation goal of welcoming 400,000 inbound students way ahead of time. Though the index revealed that a narrow international student base remained the sector’s weak point.
Of the rankings’ 150 cities, 61 are in Europe, 52 in Asia, 18 in the United States and Canada, 12 in the Middle East and Africa, and seven in Latin America.
A significant driver of Asia’s rise is China, with 10 mainland Chinese cities now featuring in the rankings, scoring highly on affordability, strengthening universities and deepening employer links.
China is fast overturning its traditional reputation as a source country for international students, with commentators pointing to a maturing of outbound student mobility as more students opt to study in China, while the country aims to grow its TNE enrolments to eight million.
While the US placed more than any cities in the rankings except for the UK, 10 of the 14 fell this year, with QS highlighting a picture of “broad retreat” – a trend that mirrors the wider strain on US appeal amid visa volatility and increasingly restrictive costs.
There was a similar story in Canada where the four ranked cities all slipped this year, as two and a half years of government restrictions and affordability barriers in Toronto and Vancouver take hold.
