The QS ranking of the best student cities for 2020 – the last year before the coronavirus frenzy began – included seven Australian settlements. For a relatively small and sparsely populated country offering high-class and competitive education, this is quite a lot.
Cities of the Southern continent show high rates for:
- The share of students in the total number of inhabitants;
- Employer activity;
- Accessibility of entertainment and recreational infrastructure.
Moreover, two cities are in the top 10 of the global ranking! So, we present to your attention a list of the best Australian student cities, each of which can offer training in at least two universities included in international rankings.
Melbourne
In 2020, this Australian city remained in second place, it was second only to Paris, and it is easy to understand why. Enjoying a reputation as the country's capital of culture, Melbourne has a rich cultural and entertainment programme to offer – especially if you enjoy discos, live music, sporting events or theatres.
Seven universities "registered" in this city, appearing in international rankings and showing excellent results in all indicators, including intercultural exchange (according to this indicator, local universities do not lag behind North American and Oxbridge).
An additional argument is the luxurious beaches, the high standard of living (according to the Economist magazine, this Australian city is recognized as the most livable in 2021).
Sydney
On the heels of Melbourne is Sydney, Australia's largest city, an economic and financial centre. It ranks fourth in the ranking of the best student cities. Despite the fact that in our ranking it is not the first position, the business capital offers potential students an outstanding combination of the highest quality of life, greenery and paradise beaches.
A quarter of students from Sydney's five "international" universities are foreigners. By the way, two universities from this list are among the top 50 according to QS. Employers, of course, don't pass by either.
Canberra
The Australian capital of Canberra has risen four places in the ranking and now occupies the seventeenth place. Like all other Australian cities, Canberra shows excellent results in terms of mixed composition - there is a huge number of foreign students.
The Australian National University, the basic university of the national education system and in addition has the highest rating (19th place in QS World and the first in the regional), works in Canberra. Why should we be surprised that the city attracts students from all over the world?
In addition, the Australian capital ranks second in terms of quality of life, as well as the attractiveness of the city as a tourist and cultural facility. Perhaps this is the only large settlement not on the coast, where there are places of interest, a variety of parks, reserves and even an artificial reservoir within the city.
Brisbane
The next line in the list of the best student cities in Australia is the rising star of the rating, Brisbane: it rose by 5 lines in a year and paired with New Zealand's Auckland took 18th place.
It has a reputation as a very hospitable city, which is understandable: Brisbane is home to three large universities and a large number of students. However, in addition to students, the city attracts a huge number of tourists; there is a serious modern structure of the economy, a large number of industrial enterprises in the field of electronic and shipbuilding industry, medical equipment.
In addition, it is a major "transit" point - ships between Sydney and Singapore come here: both passenger cruise liners and commercial flights with containers and consolidated cargo.
Like other Australian cities, Brisbane offers the perfect mix for students looking for a balance between urban bustle and nature; chic beaches, sunny and favorable climate, a large number of sports infrastructure coexist with the cosmopolitanism and internationalism of the center, stuffed with nightclubs and art galleries.
Adelaide
The fifth largest city in Australia ranks 26th in the ranking. Located on the south coast, it is known for its wide streets and overgrown with southern vegetation boulevards, wide squares, as well as a convenient urban layout with almost ideal geometry for navigation.
In addition, there are also chic beaches, perfect for recreation and surfing. In addition, within walking distance is the Adelaide Hills Nature Reserve - here you can walk, ride a great, observe wild animals in their natural habitat and try the best Australian wines directly from the farms where all this is grown.
The QS World University Rankings® 2015/16 included three universities located in Adelaide, and all of them are among the top 550 in the world:
- University of Adelaide
- University of South Australia
- Flinders University.
Perth
This city, ranked 36th in the rankings, is also isolated from most Australian cities – it is located on the west coast more than 2,000 miles from Sydney and Melbourne. This is a highly attractive place for life in general and students in particular scored excellent points both in terms of tourist attractiveness and in terms of the composition of the student "corps": almost 30% of them are foreigners, mainly from the countries of Southeast Asia, Africa and Oceania.
It offers all the cultural, culinary and entertainment opportunities available to the state capital city with a population of two million. It is also a port city with close to an ideal climate and access to a network of the coolest beaches, parks and coves you have ever seen. Three Perth universities were included in the QS World University Rankings. The highest results are from the University of Western Australia, which took 98th place.
Gold Coast
On the last line is a place that you almost certainly have not heard of, but which cannot be written off. It occupies the 69th point in the ranking.
The city is located a few dozen kilometers south of Brisbane, in the state of Queensland. It boasts 52 kilometers of first-class golden beaches, multiplied by 300 sunny days a year. There's also a suburb called Surfer's Paradise — the name speaks for itself; surfers and beach lovers. Is it any wonder that the settlement received the highest score in the category "Attractiveness"?
Far from the first line of skyscrapers, the suburbs, nicknamed "green on gold", are immersed in the subtropical forests of three national parks with mountains, rocks and amazing waterfalls.
