Bengaluru is best Indian city for students

Pupils' paradise

Bengaluru has emerged as India’s best city for students according to a new worldwide rankings released on Wednesday.

Globally, London claimed the first place for the second consecutive year, while Tokyo and Melbourne came second and third respectively, on ‘QS Best Student Cities Ranking’ compiled by education consultancy QS Quacquarelli Symonds.

In India, Bengaluru tops the list (81st globally), followed by Mumbai (85), Delhi (113) and Chennai (115) out of a total of 120 cities ranked on the list.

The rankings highlight each city’s performance across six categories — the number of top-ranked universities, proportion of a city’s population made up of students, quality of life on offer, job opportunities available after graduation, affordability and the feedback of students themselves.

Explaining the positioning of Bengaluru, the QS ranking report describes the city as a “leading technology exporter” which is home to highly reputed research institutions and universities, including the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and the Indian Institue of Management-Bangalore (IIMB).

The city has also scored high on the “affordability indicator”, coming at the seventh spot among the 120 cities surveyed, thanks to the low cost of living and tuition fees.

“The fact that London has again been ranked the best city in the world for a student is fantastic news — and is no surprise given that the city is home to world-leading higher education institutions and a vibrant cultural life,” said London’s Pakistani-origin Mayor Sadiq Khan, who has been an outspoken campaigner for better visa offers for students from around the world.

The number of Indian students coming to London registered a hike of 20% in 2017-18, marking an increase from 4,545 in 2016-17 to 5,455 in 2017-18.

Europe dominates the list in the latest ranking with German cities Munich (4) and Berlin (5), followed by French capital Paris at the seventh place and Switzerland’s Zurich at eighth place. The Canadian city of Montreal (6), Australia’s Sydney (9) and South Korean capital Seoul (10) complete the top 10.