Three institutions, students from more than 130 countries, world-ranked games and life sciences, and some of the most affordable student living in the UK. Here’s why so many people choose to study in Dundee.
Dundee is a small city with a very big student population. With around 148,000 residents according to National Records of Scotland, it has one of the highest student-to-population ratios in the UK, roughly one in five people. Abertay says no Scottish city has more students per head.
That concentration of students shapes the place. Within the city sit Abertay University, the University of Dundee and Dundee and Angus College. The University of St Andrews is just across the Tay, about 15 minutes by train from Leuchars, according to ScotRail.
Big ambitions, small bills
Dundee’s low cost base is one of its biggest selling points. A 2022 study reported by the University of Dundee named it the most affordable city in the UK for students, with weekly spending well below Edinburgh or St Andrews. The university’s own living costs guide currently puts living costs at around £10,000 to £12,000 for the academic year.
Graduates stay too. In 2025, a Compare the Market report ranked Dundee the best city in Scotland for graduates and second in the UK, helped by modest rents. We looked at what makes Dundee so affordable for graduates when the ranking came out.
Abertay: games, cyber and digital authenticity
Abertay has built a global reputation in digital. Abertay says it launched the world’s first computer games degrees in 1997, and this year The Princeton Review named it the top international school for video games education. Students work in a PlayStation 5 development lab, a virtual production research environment and the Emergent Technology Centre.
Abertay’s ethical hacking degrees are now fully certified by the National Cyber Security Centre, part of GCHQ. Its cyberQuarter hub works with partners including Cisco and Police Scotland.
Students rate it highly too. The Complete University Guide 2027 named Abertay the top Scottish modern university for student satisfaction for the third year running, and the Guardian 2026 ranked it 11th in the UK for value added, a measure of how far students progress from their starting point.
Graduates are walking into a city that helped invent modern gaming. Dundee’s DMA Design created Lemmings and Grand Theft Auto, and studios including 4J Studios, Outplay and Ninja Kiwi are based here today. Dundee is also the UK’s only UNESCO City of Design. Abertay is also leading the Tay Create partnership behind a new creative technology centre of up to £20 million at Camperdown Dock, due to open in April 2027.
University of Dundee: medicine, life sciences and design
The University of Dundee is ranked 20th in the UK in The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2027. In the subject tables it is second for Dentistry and Anatomy, third for Biological and Biomedical Sciences, and in the top ten for Pharmacy, Art and Design, and Law.
The Guardian 2027 guide puts Dundee first in the UK for Dentistry, second for Animation and Game Design and eighth for Medicine. In the last national research assessment, Times Higher Education ranked Dundee top in the UK for Biological Sciences. Its spinout companies keep making news, and in October Amphista Therapeutics dosed its first patient.
Medicine is taught at Ninewells Hospital, and through ScotGEM Dundee and St Andrews jointly run Scotland’s first graduate-entry medicine programme. On the creative side, the Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design keeps Dundee at the heart of Scottish art and design.
Students come from more than 130 countries, and 91% of graduates are in work or further study within 15 months. We joined the 2025 medicine and business graduates on their big day. The university has been through a difficult period financially, but it has Scottish Government support and a recovery plan in place. A new principal, Dundonian and Abertay graduate Angela Scott, took up post in October.
Dundee and Angus College: a door into everything
With more than 18,000 students across its Kingsway, Gardyne and Arbroath campuses, Dundee and Angus College is often the first step. Its articulation routes let students move from an HNC or HND straight into the second or third year of a degree at Abertay, Dundee and other universities. The college is also working on a £265 million, ten-year transformation of its campuses, which we covered here.
And St Andrews on the doorstep
St Andrews was ranked first in the UK in The Times and Sunday Times guide this year, and first in Scotland in the Complete University Guide. The Stagecoach 99 bus and the Leuchars train link the two towns, so students in either place can easily use what the other offers.
Help with the cost of studying
There is more financial help available than many people realise:
- Free tuition for Scottish students: eligible Scottish-domiciled undergraduates have their fees paid through SAAS. Bursaries of up to £2,000 a year are available depending on household income, alongside student loans, according to the Scottish Parliament’s research service.
- Care experienced students: a £9,000 a year Care Experienced Students’ Bursary.
- University of Dundee: scholarships for UK and Irish students, including £2,500 a year for Scottish Medicine and Dentistry students, an RUK Bursary of £2,000 a year for lower-income students from elsewhere in the UK, and a £7,500 Global Excellence Scholarship for international students.
- Abertay: students from elsewhere in the UK can study for four years and pay for three, plus £1,000 a year, on eligible courses.
- Dundee and Angus College: bursaries, EMA, a childcare fund and discretionary funds.
- Widening access: Dundee’s Access Summer School helps students from under-represented backgrounds into university.
Where to live
The University of Dundee runs its own residences, including City Campus, Seabraes and West Park. Abertay’s accommodation options include Telephone House, which opened opposite campus this year, as well as Parker House, Parklands and Meadowside Court. Private halls include iQ Parker House and Sanctuary Students Seabraes.
Student life in Dundee
The Dundee University Students’ Association supports more than 145 societies, and Abertay Students’ Association runs over 20 societies, some costing just £1 to join. Both universities offer counselling and wellbeing support, including Abertay’s counselling and mental health service. Student volunteers run Dundee Nightline, a confidential listening service.
Low costs, world-class subjects, three institutions and a fourth just across the river: Dundee has a strong case to be Scotland’s student capital.
Sources
- Dundee City council area profile — National Records of Scotland
- Study in Dundee — dundee.com
- Dundee named top city in Scotland for graduates — Abertay, 2025
- Dundee named most affordable city in UK for students — University of Dundee, 2022
- Abertay top international school for games — Princeton Review 2026
- Abertay cyber programmes certified by NCSC — Abertay, 2026
- Abertay top Scottish modern university for satisfaction — CUG 2027
- Dundee ranks top 20 in UK — University of Dundee, 2026
- Guardian University Guide 2027 — University of Dundee
- Recovery plan, finance and governance — University of Dundee
- University of Dundee news, July–December 2026
- Articulation routes — Dundee and Angus College
- Student support and fees — SPICe, June 2026
- DUSA societies — DUSA
