Melbourne named the best student city
MELBOURNE comes up trumps on student city list.
VCE
Don't miss out on the headlines from VCE . Followed categories will be added to My News.
HEADING to uni next year? The good news is, Melbourne has been named the best city in Australia for students.
In the 2017 Students Cities Table, which is published by analysts QS Quacquarelli Symonds annually, Melbourne heads the Australian cities list and is ranked number five on the global list. Five Australian cities made it into the top 50 this year — Sydney trails Melbourne at 13, Brisbane at 20, Canberra at 22, Adelaide at 44, and at number 50, Perth rounds off the list.
While Melbourne has long attracted students ($2 sushi rolls, anyone?), this year it dropped three places to fifth, trailing typically pricey cities London and Paris. In 2015 and 2016 Melbourne ranked second on the world list so why the drop? Dasha Karzunina, market insight manager for the QS Intelligence Unit, who produces the table every year and is currently preparing the 2018 table, says affordability is the reason behind the drop.
“This is a wider trend for Australian cities and Melbourne is no exception,” says Karzunina. “Australian cities are some of the most expensive cities in the world to study in, especially compared to cheaper alternatives in Europe and Asia, and even Canada,” she says.
The Students Cities Table ranks 125 cities on a number of measures which sit under five categories — affordability, university rankings, employer activity, student mix and desirability. Montreal took the top spot this year, pushing Paris into second place and London into third.
In order to maintain a higher position, says Karzunina, Melbourne should ensure affordable options are available to students living in the city, particularly international students.
“This has the potential to both improve some of their scores in the affordability category and strengthen their student experience scores,” she says.
As for the positives and cheap sushi aside, Melbourne scores an impressive 97/100 in desirability which indicates it remains a top option for students.
“This also means that not only is there a large number of students already studying there, the student body is also diverse, with people from all over the world coming to study in Melbourne,” says Karzunina. “Melbourne also hosts some of the highest ranked institutions in the world — seven that are in the QS World University Rankings, which is very significant for a city of its size.”
Prestigious institutions which operate on a global level and have a global brand such as University of Melbourne, Monash and RMIT also help Melbourne do well in the rankings category, says Karzunina. The 2018 ranking is due for release in early 2018.
QS Top 25 Best Student Cities 2017
1. Montreal
2. Paris
3. London
4. Seoul
5. Melbourne
6. Berlin
7. Tokyo
8. Boston
9. Munich
10. Vancouver
11. Hong Kong and Toronto
13. Sydney
14. Singapore
15. Zurich
16. Vienna
17. Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe
18. Edinburgh
19. New York
20. Brisbane
21. Taipei
22. Canberra
23. Barcelona
24. Manchester
25. Shanghai
Your guide to schools around Dandenong
As more people move to Dandenong and Endeavour Hills, the need for secondary schools in the area grows. Here’s a comprehensive guide of each school you can send your child to, including the VCE scores, subjects and public transport options.
Where to send your child to school in Sunbury
Sunbury was once a sleepy country town, but is today seen as an extension of Melbourne. There are several places to send your child to high school — here’s our comprehensive guide to VCE scores and public transport options.