London, 28^th July 2021: Mumbai (Global Ranking of 106^th) and Bangalore (110^th) are the best cities for students in India, as per the QS Best Student Cities Ranking 2022.

London retain its status as the world’s best student city for the third consecutive edition. It is followed by Munich, which rises from 4^th to 2^nd. Seoul, which jumps from 10^th to joint-3^rd, shares the bronze-medal position with Olympic hosts Tokyo.

 With the world’s students seeking to resume their international study plans, QS Quacquarelli Symonds, global higher education analysts, have on 28 July 2021 released the ninth edition of the QS Best Student Cities Ranking.

The results, which enable students to compare 115 premier educational destinations.

There are two Indian cities featured in the rankings: Mumbai (106^th) and Bangalore (110^th).  Both cities dropped compared to the previous editions – losing twenty-nine places and twenty-one places respectively. Nonetheless, Mumbai gained twenty-seven places in the “Affordability” indicator, now ranking 21^st globally. Bangalore lost three places in the same indicator yet remains firmly among the top 10, placing 7^th globally in this metric.

Ben Sowter, QS Director of Research, said: “The primary concern for the Indian higher education system is to provide access to its ever-growing student population. Even though attracting international students is not a major focus, both Mumbai and Bangalore rank high in the “Affordability” indicator, an important aspect for many foreign students. Mumbai ranks 52^nd globally in the “Employer Activity” indicator, another in key metric. This ranking provides insights to the millions Indian students who wish to pursue an international education”.

London’s ascendency is due to:

• Its high concentration of world-class universities; it achieves the world’s second-best score in the Rankings 
• Highly positive feedback from students that have studied in the city: it scores 98.4/100 for Student View, a result bettered only by Berlin.
• Outstanding career opportunities for graduates: it places 4^thin the Employer Activity metric, scoring 92.9/100.
• Its high levels of openness to international students, which see it achieve the world’s fifth-best score (95.9/100) for Student Mix.

Other highlights from this year’s edition include:

• Boston is the only new entrant into the top ten, rising from 13^thto joint-9^th. It shares the position with previously perennial table-toppers Paris (down two spots) and Montreal (down three places).
• Germany and Australia are the only locations to have two of the world’s ten best student cities each.
• The United States’ 15 ranked cities are suffering from a systemic decline in the Desirability 
• Switzerland’s Lausanne enjoys a noteworthy debut in the rankings, placing 19^th.
• Moscow and Beijing break into the top thirty, sharing 25^th-position.
• Driven by declines in Employer Activity, five of Australia’s seven ranked cities have fallen.
• All three of Spain’s ranked cities suffer double-digit drops in rank.

Ben Sowter commented: “Responses to our surveys from students that have actually studied in London make it clear that the city still offers outstanding cultural, economic, and educational opportunities. With two of the world’s ten best universities situated in the city, it remains a world-leading educational hub. However, exponentially-increasing COVID cases and lingering Brexit effects may serve to undermine London’s privileged position.”