Melbourne wins once again Australia’s best student city.

We were delighted earlier this month to read that Melbourne had gained another rank on the worldwide QS Best Student City ranking. It truly is a blessing for us at Ozford to be able to operate in the heart of Australia’s best student city. We benefit from being in contact with the most experienced, motivated, and expert individuals, allowing us to offer our students the chance to fully explore their great potential.

Melbourne’s ranking has been consistent throughout the years, never dropping below 6^th position worldwide since 2012. In 2012 and 2015 through to this year, Melbourne was ranked as Australia’s best student city: that is an impressive 9 years of winning the national ranking, with this year marking the 8^th year in a row dominating the field.

According to QS, our city welcomes the finest collection of universities of any Australian city, reaching 13^th position on the global scale. Melbourne’s student mix almost obtains a perfect score with 98.9, close behind Coventry (UK). Out of the 7 universities ranked by QS in Melbourne, 5 of them ranked above 300 in the world ranking, definitely helping Melbourne stand out from other cities. The city’s biggest downfall however is its affordability ranking: with 26.9, it sits way below most of its closest competitors. Indeed, the cost of life tends to be rather high, especially when taking into account International Student fees.

The complete set of factors on which the ranking is based are the following:

• University rankings
  • How many universities does the city have which are in the QS World University Rankings?
  • How well do those universities perform in the latest rankings?
• Student mix
• What proportion of the city’s population are students?
• How many international students are enrolled in the city?
• How inclusive is the city and the country it’s located in?
• Desirability
  • How safe is the city?
  • What are the pollution levels like in the city?
  • How many respondents to our student survey wanted to study in the city?
• Employer activity
  • What is youth employment like in the city?
  • What do employers think of the graduates produced by universities in the city?
• Affordability
  • How much does tuition cost at the city’s universities?
  • What is the cost of living for students in the city?
• Student voice
  • What ratings did students give the city’s friendliness, sustainability, diversity and more?
  • What proportion of students continue to live in the city after graduation?

The aspects in which Melbourne scored very well are Student view and Student mix, with scores of 97.8 and 98.9. Employer activity and Desirability scored a little worse with respectively 87.3 and 82.4, while University Rankings and Affordability scores sat far behind with 68.9 and 26.9 out of 100.

What this ranking really highlights is the incredible opportunities that studying in Melbourne creates. It is a city tailored to foster success, especially among its student community and we are proud to be an active and involved member of its success story. Come visit us on campus and ask one of our staff members what we do on a daily basis in order to continuously sustain the city’s effort for excellence!