QS Best Student Cities Rankings 2026 Out; London Retains the Top Spot for 4th Yr

Quacquarelli Symonds(QS) has released the list of Best Student Cities for 2026, with London emerging as the top city for students looking to study abroad. The capital city of the UK has been bagging the top spot since 2018. 

Munich and Seoul share the second position this year, followed by Zurich in the fourth spot. Around 140 cities have been ranked by QS this time. 

The rankings are based on six key categories: University Rankings, Student Mix, Desirability, Employer Activity, Affordability, and Student Voice. All the indicators are given equal weightage when calculating the overall scores. 

With an overall score of 100, London got 94.8 in Ranking, 94.9 in Desirability, 19.4 in Affordability,  92.7 in Employer Activity, 94.9 in Student Mix, and 98.5 in Student View.

Interestingly, four London-based universities feature on the QS World University Rankings in the top 100 list this time. Imperial College London at the sixth spot, UCL at eighth, King’s College London at 37th, and The London School of Economics and Political Science at 56th position have been rated as the best colleges in the city. 

Additionally, four Indian cities feature on the list. With an overall score of 48.5, Mumbai is placed in the 103rd spot. Bangalore followed it at 114th, Chennai in 125rd, and Delhi at 129th position. 

QS Best Student Cities: Table for Comparison

QS Best Student Cities 2026	City	Country	QS Best Student Cities 2026
1	London	UK	1
2	Tokyo	Japan	7
3	Seoul	South Korea	2
4	Melbourne	Australia	5
5	Munich	Germany	2
6	Paris	France	8
7	Sydney	Australia	9
=8	Berlin	Germany	6
=8	Zurich	Switzerland	4
10	Boston	US	11
11	Toronto	Canada	15
12	Vienna	Austria	16
13	Montreal	Canada	14
14	Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe	Japan	17
15	Singapore	Singapore	13
16	Edinburgh	UK	10
17	New York	US	18
18	Vancouver	Canada	20
19	Lausanne	Switzerland	19
20	San Franciso	US	27
21	Hong Kong SAR	Hong Kong	12
=22	Brisbane	Australia	24
=22	Stockholm	Sweden	21
=24	Amsterdam	Netherlands	21
=24	Kuala Lumpur	Malaysia	28
26	Adelaide	Australia	31
27	Los Angeles	US	30
=30	Manchester	UK	25
33	Taipei	Taiwan	31
34	Buenos Aires	Argentina	23
36	Glasglow	UK	25
37	Beijing	China	29
38	Barcelona	Spain	31