UK ranked second best for international students in Europe

The UK was ranked as the second most attractive country for international students by the Study.EU Country Rankings 2017. Germany came on the first place, with Netherlands, France and Sweden in third, fourth and fifth places respectively.

The ranking contains 30 European countries, and looks at three different aspects: “education,” “cost” and “life and career”. Every country is ranked out of 100 points, with 50, 30 and 20 points being assigned for each category respectively.

The “education” category takes into account the presence of countries’ universities in established international university rankings such as The Times Higher Education (THE) or the QS Rankings, indicators of teaching quality as well as the general availability of English-taught programmes.

The “cost” category looks at the average cost of living in a country plus tuition fees for EU/EEA citizens as well as for non-European students. The UK was the most expensive country in the sample.

The “life and career” category considers the country’s score in the UN’s World Happiness Report, the local unemployment rate as well as local proficiency in English, to evaluate the chances of students of entering the labour market after graduation.

Study.EU CEO Gerrit Bruno Blöss said: “Two significant political developments will influence global higher education for years to come. First, there is the Trump presidency, driving international students away from the US to other countries – in many cases, Europe.”

“And then there is the upcoming Brexit, of which neither the time line nor the consequences are foreseeable. Many prospective students expect deteriorating conditions in the UK, and they start looking for study-abroad experiences elsewhere in Europe.”

Alexandra Niculescu, a first-year PPE student commented: “I chose to study in the UK rather than in another European country firstly because of the quality of education offered by UK universities, and secondly because the course I wanted to do was only available at British universities.”