Africa
This year’s ranking investigated 110 cities, 58 of which improved their positioning while 46 dropped in their global ranking. 

In Africa, Cape Town topped the regional ranking with an overall score of 56.1 out of 100; the South African city ranked 78th worldwide. 

Cairo and Johannesburg were the only other two African cities to feature on the list, with a respective overall score of roughly 50 out of 100 and a worldwide ranking of 94th and 97th..

Middle East region
For the Middle East region, the Emirati cities of Dubai and Abu Dhabi provided the best conditions for studying abroad, ranking 51st and 71st worldwide. Abu Dhabi tied with Daejeon, South Korea’s fifth-largest city. 

Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh came 99th in the global ranking and third in the ME ahead of the Jordanian cities of Amman (113th) and Ibrid (139th).

As the Middle Eastern cities had to compete against each other for a leading position, the QS put them under the Asia region, placing them against South Korea’s capital.


Seoul notably aced the regional and global ranking as it has proven to be the second-best student city in the world in a tie with Munich, Germany. 

The two cities scored 95.1 out of 100 in the QS ranking. Munich outshined the Korean capital this year in the student voice indicator which measures the student experience in a city. 

Meanwhile, Seoul received a perfect score in the index measuring the number of “outstanding institutions” hosted by a city.

Still, London dominated the ranking for another year with “exceptional scores” for student mix at 94.9 and desirability at 94.9. 

England’s capital also provides a “high concentration of world-class universities [which] also helped boost its position, achieving the world’s second-best score in the Rankings Indicator,” QS said. 

Commenting on London’s performance as a student city, Ben Sowter, QS Senior VP, said the city “offers outstanding cultural, economic, and educational opportunities.”

He continued, “With two of the world’s ten best universities situated in the city, it remains a world-leading educational hub.”

But London’s increasingly high cost of living is raising concerns about whether the city would remain a favorable destination for students. This phenomenon extends to other major educational hubs. 

“Worryingly, cities are broadly becoming less affordable for students by QS’ measures, with just under 90% declining in our Affordability metric,” Ben concluded.