QS has released its best student cities ranking for 2025 with Melbourne and Sydney ranking in the worlds top 10.
The top 10 globally are as follows:
| QS Best Student Cities Ranking 2025: Top 10 | |||
| 2025 Rank | 2024 Rank | City | Location |
| 1 | 1 | London | United Kingdom |
| 2 | 2 | Tokyo | Japan |
| 3 | 3 | Seoul | South Korea |
| 4 | 5 | Munich | Germany |
| 5 | 4 | Melbourne | Australia |
| 6 | 7 | Sydney | Australia |
| 7 | 6 | Paris | France |
| 8 | 8= | Zurich | Switzerland |
| 9 | 8= | Berlin | Germany |
| 10 | 13 | Montreal | Canada |
Closer to home, QS ranks seven Australian cities, all of which are in the world’s top 100 while six are in the top 50. Five drop down the table in 2025. The rankings for Australian cities are as follows:
| Australian Ranked Cities | ||
| 2025 Rank | 2024 Rank | City |
| 5 | 4 | Melbourne |
| 6 | 7 | Sydney |
| 25 | 22 | Brisbane |
| 28 | 26 | Adelaide |
| 29 | 30 | Canberra |
| 35 | 34 | Perth |
| 93 | 87 | Gold Coast |
QS CEO, Jessica Turner, has stated: “We are delighted to celebrate Melbourne and Sydney as two of the world’s top ten best student cities, as well as the other five Australian cities recognised in this ranking, as an achievement that underscores the strength of Australia’s international education and the importance of maintaining and advancing this success.”
“As Australia tightens regulations around student visas in response to concerns about rising migration, significant uncertainty still surrounds the proposed cap on international students. This is causing considerable anxiety among universities that heavily depend on these students’ fees.”
QS ranks cities with a population of at least 250,000 and with at least two universities placing in the QS World University Rankings. The ranking offers a view into the sentiments of both prospective and former students, with 100,000 survey responses contributing to the Desirability (prospective students) and Student Voice (former students) indexes. Further information on the methodology can be found here.
The Koala congratulates all Australian cities that featured and especially congratulated Melbourne and Sydney for their nod in the top 10 globally.
