Study Abroad: Are QS Best Student Cities 2024 Also the Safest?

While the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Rankings for Best Student Cities 2024 does consider student safety as a key factor, we can only say that all these cities are safe for students but not term them as safest. 

Why? QS also takes other factors like population, employment etc into consideration which rules out some small cities that could have made it to the list. 

Nevertheless, the other factors taken into consideration also ensure other opportunities for students. To have a better judgment of the QS Best Student Cities 2024 list let’s evaluate their ranking parameters. 

QS Best Student Cities Ranking Parameters

There are six major factors in play, which are further broken down into sub-factors for better evaluation. The six major factors are; University rankings, Student mix, Desirability, Employer activity, Affordability and Student voice. 

University Rankings

QS looks at the number of ranking universities and their performance in the latest rankings under this parameter. 

Student Mix

The factor of inclusivity and how many national and international students are there are also taken into account. 

Desirability

Under this factor, the measures of safety, environmental conditions and number of students selecting the city for study in the QS survey are noted. 

Employer Activity 

QS Rankings also consider youth employment provisions in the city. They also refer to the employer’s review of the graduates from the city. 

Affordability 

The tuition fee and cost of living in the city play a major role in deciding if it is a financially viable option for the student or not. 

Student Voice

Existing student reviews on friendliness, sustainability and diversity are evaluated for this parameter. What proportion of students stay back after graduation also decides if it favours the student’s voice. 

The Top 10 Cities in 2024

Here is the list of the top 10 QS best student cities in 2024. The table also mentions the city ranking and score alongside it.

Ranking	City	Score
#1	London, UK	100
#2	Tokyo, Japan	98
#3	Seoul, South Korea	97.6
#4	Melbourne, Australia	97.3
#5	Munich, Germany	97.1
#6	Paris, France	96.3
#7	Sydney, Australia	96.2
#8	Berlin, Germany	95
#8	Zurich, Switzerland	95
#10	Boston, USA	92.3

Factors like cultural diversity, employment options and to some extent affordability also make cities safer for students. These rankings, however, do not cover essential factors such as the crime rate against students and the availability of safe housing options.

Hence, as stated above, the cities in this list are safe but cannot be termed as the safest for students, especially international students. If you want to read more such exciting information, make sure you follow Leverage Edu News Updates.