Best student cities 2016: Paris, Melbourne and Tokyo top list of best places in the world for students

The cities were selected for the student mix, desirability, employer activity, the ranking of the universities and affordability

Paris has topped the list of the best cities in the world for international students in 2016 due to its mixture of elite universities and its affordability – leading the global ranking of the best urban destinations for international students for the fourth year in a row.

QS Top Universities, which has compiled the list of the 74 best student cities for 2016, highlighted Paris’s status as having the most institutions featured in the QS university world rankings outside of London – but the tuition fees in France make the capital a more affordable option for students.

Melbourne, which comes in at second place, scored highly on the “student mix” part of the list’s criteria, which is calculated based on the relative size and diversity of each city’s student population while also taking into account the levels of social inclusion and tolerance.

Toyko scored highly for its professional and internship opportunities and for domestic and international employer activity, while London is described as the “nerve centre of global academia”.

The UK’s capital ranked at number five despite the acknowledgment that living costs in the city are significantly higher than the rest of the UK, and the tuition fees are approaching levels similar to those in the US.