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Seoul ranks best city for students in QS rankings, beating Tokyo and London

Published: 15 Jul. 2025, 19:02

LEE TAE-HEE
[email protected]

An international student takes photos with her friends during Hankuk University of Foreign Studies' graduation ceremony held at the university campus in Dongdaemun District, central Seoul, on Feb. 14, 2024. [YONHAP]

Seoul was named the world's best city for students by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) on Tuesday, placing first due to its many world-renowned universities and high desirability amid the rising popularity of Korean culture.

Seoul topped the 2026 QS Best Student Cities Ranking released Tuesday, rising from its previous year's placement of third.

Tokyo followed at second, maintaining its ranking.

London placed third, falling from first place. The city had ranked first for the past six consecutive years.

According to QS, London's drop in rankings is due to its fall in the affordability indicator. The city ranked 137th in affordability, down from 126th the previous year.

The QS Best Student Cities ranking identifies the top cities for students to study in, evaluating those with a population of 250,000 or more and have at least two universities in the QS World University Rankings. This year’s edition evaluated 150 cities.

Cities are evaluated using six indicators: desirability, affordability, student mix, employer activity, university rankings and student voice.

The first criteria, desirability, looks into factors that reflect the desirability of each location, such as climate, corruption, health care and safety. Affordability assesses tuition fees and general living expenses and student mix looks into the volume of international students and general students to the overall city's population. Employer activity is based on how well the city is recognized by domestic and international employers, as well as youth employment figures.

University Rankings assess the performance of the city's institutions in the QS World University Rankings and student voice reflects the results of student surveys, which measure students' intent to stay in the city after graduation and their experiences in the city, adjusted for the level of international response.

Munich placed fourth in the rankings, the same as the previous year. The city was followed by Melbourne in fifth and Sydney in sixth, all maintaining the previous year's rankings.

Berlin and Paris tied at seventh, with Berlin up from its previous placement at ninth and Paris maintaining its rank.

Zurich placed ninth, down from eight h last year. Vienna ranked 10th, up from last year's 14th.

For Seoul, one of the indicators it ranks high in is the university rankings.

The city topped the category by receiving a full 100-point mark, with 23 universities featured in the 2026 QS World University Rankings.

“Seoul is home to two top-50 institutions in the 2026 QS World University Rankings, with Yonsei University climbing six places to rank as the world’s 50th best university," said Ben Sowter, senior vice president of QS, in a press release. "This year, 12 universities in Seoul improved their positions in our global rankings, underlining the strength and dynamism of the city’s higher education ecosystem."

"No other city featured in the Best Student Cities ranking is home to as many ranked institutions as Seoul, with an impressive total of 23.”

Universities located near metropolitan areas without clearly defined city boundaries are mapped to the nearest metropolitan city. As a result, institutions such as Inha University and The Catholic University of Korea are considered part of Seoul. This also applies to Sungkyunkwan University, which has its humanities campus in Seoul but its natural sciences campus in Gyeonggi.

Desirability is another area Seoul places high in, getting 90.2 points to rank seventh in the category.

According to QS, Seoul has been a desirable location for students worldwide due to factors such as the global influence of K-pop, Korean film, innovation, digital infrastructure and safety.

"According to our most recent QS surveys of international applicants, 76 percent say that a city being safe and welcoming is the most important factor when choosing where to study," said Sowter. "A further 59 percent cite the presence of universities with high-quality teaching, and 57 percent prioritize good lifestyle and leisure opportunities — all areas in which Seoul excels.”

Seoul also comes third in the employer activity indicator with a score of 93.3. The city ranks 48th in student voice, 51st in student mix and 68th in affordability.

Apart from Seoul, Korea also saw two other cities — Busan and Daegu — placing in the Best Student Cities Rankings.

Busan ranked 117th, up from its previous placement at 136th. Daegu debuted in the rankings at 131st this year.

While Daejeon used to be included in the rankings, placing 74th last year, the city was excluded as it failed to meet the eligibility criteria of having at least two universities ranked in the QS World University Rankings.

Daejeon-based KAIST was left out from the World University Rankings for one year starting June after a controversial survey incident. The decision follows a KAIST professor emailing professors abroad, saying those who participated in an academic reputation survey, which was to be used in the QS rankings, would get a gift token.

Apart from KAIST, Chungnam National University is the only Daejeon-based university in the World University Rankings, with its campus located in the city's Yuseong District.

BY LEE TAE-HEE [[email protected]]