Dublin

QS Best Student Cities ranking: 34th

For those whose idea of a perfect student city involves combining top-class study facilities and historic surroundings with a cracking social scene and famously friendly locals… Dublin should be on your list!

Cultural mainstays such as “the craic”, Guinness and St Patrick's Day may have spawned a global Irish cliché industry, but if you visit the real thing you'll understand why there are so many imitations. Ireland's capital has become a more multicultural and cosmopolitan place in the past several decades, but at its heart retains a tradition and culture that is all its own.

Dublin is home to four of Ireland’s eight world-ranking universities, led by Trinity College Dublin (TCD) and University College Dublin (UCD), ranked 88^th and 168^th in the QS World University Rankings® 2018. Between them, these historic institutions have produced famous names in an impressive range of disciplines, but they are perhaps best-known for their literary alumni: Samuel Beckett, James Joyce, Oscar Wilde, WB Yeats and many more.

Dublin’s strongest score in the QS Best Student Cities 2018 is for student mix, reflecting its high concentration of students and high ratio of international students. The Irish capital also ranks in the top 50 for desirability and student view, with lots of praise from students who took our survey for Dublin’s diversity, nightlife and friendliness. One respondent said: “It is a very beautiful and diverse city; you can make friends from all over the world.”

Would Dublin get your vote? Tell us why.

Internationally ranked universities in Dublin

More about Dublin

To find out how each of the above categories is calculated, view the methodology.