You may have met or heard of a Malaysian student studying in Australia, and you won’t be surprised to know that the Land Down Under is currently the study destination of choice for almost 20,000 Malaysian students, as recorded in the first two months of this year. And throughout the nation, Western Australia remains among the most popular regions for international students, specifically in the city of Perth.
If you’ve ever wondered what keeps international students from Malaysian and beyond coming to Perth, here are 5 reasons why!
1. Proximity
Reason number one: Perth is not far off from home.
Perth shares the same or similar time zone as many Asian cities and countries. Apart from being in the same time zone as Malaysia, Perth is also in line with Hong Kong, Brunei, the Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia and China, just to name a few. In addition to that, flights are merely three hours or less away. This makes calling home super easy! And plus, over 30 international and domestic airlines fly to Perth Airport so getting home isn’t too difficult either.
Cottesloe Beach, Perth. (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)
2. Liveability
As a whole, Australia is one of the world’s leading cities in terms of quality of life. While you would normally hear about Melbourne being the top Australian city for liveability, Perth is right behind, and still is, as seen in the 2019 Quality of Living City Rankings by Mercer, which measures a city based on factors such as housing, work-life balance, cost of living, public services and transport and weather, among others. Perth residents enjoy a low crime rate and ranked as the 2nd Friendliest Cities in the world by CNTraveler.
International students who live in Perth have cited the ease of public transportation and lower congestion levels in Perth as positive aspects of student life. All students get 40% off all buses, trains and ferries across Perth, and buses in the CBD are free! A welcome change from traffic jams, that’s for sure! And living by the beach is always a bonus.
Let’s hear it from international students themselves!
3. Vibrant Population
It’s official: Perth is Australia’s fastest growing capital city in terms of population, having grown 3.05% in the past 5 years. And in line with the growing number of people coming to live here, Perth is fast becoming a multicultural environment with a diverse range of people, infrastructure and urban development. (A third of Perth’s residents are born overseas.) It’s also ranked the 1st in Australia for best student mix! But there’s more to come, especially in terms of industry. Which brings us to our next point…
4. Professional Development
As you seek a place to advance your academic journey, your goals don’t just end with your scroll, but a gateway to a career. Perth is currently seeing a surge in industries such as technology, innovation and entrepreneurship, with startups being born and grown in the co-working spaces around the city. WTF, or West Tech Festival is also an annual affair there, which celebrates the best of tech and entrepreneurship in Western Australia.
Joondalup Campus, Edith Cowan University, Perth.(Image Source: FourSquare.com)
5. The Presence of World-Class Institutions
All careers begin with the right education. And with all the reasons stated above, here’s the main one that attracts scores of students to Perth, year in and year out. Perth is home to 3 QS-ranked institutions: University of Western Australia (UWA), Curtin University, and Murdoch University. Another rising star institution located in Perth would be Edith Cowan University (ECU), ranked amongst the world’s top 100 for sports-related courses in the 2019 QS World University Rankings by Subject, as well as the 2018 Times Higher Education Ranking for Young Universities.
University of Western Australia (UWA)
It’s one of the oldest and leading research-intensive universities in Australia. It is ranked 7th in the world for Mineral and Mining Engineering by QS Top Universities Subject Ranking.
| Course | Bachelor of Science in Engineering Science (Hons) |
| Intake | Feb or July |
| Duration | 4 years |
| Indicative annual fee: | AUD$ 40, 400 |
For more information about entry requirements and how to apply, please contact Excel Education.
Curtin University
It is ranked among the top one per cent of the world’s universities in 2018 and 250 in the world in 2019 QS World University Rankings. According to QS subject ranking 2018, Curtin is ranked in the top 50 for the earth and marine science.
| Course | Bachelor of Science in Coastal & Marine Science |
| Intake | Feb or June |
| Duration | 3 years |
| Indicative annual fee: | AUD$ 30, 800 |
For more information about entry requirements and how to apply, please contact Excel Education.
Edith Cowan University
ECU is one of Australia’s top public universities for student satisfaction, so if you’re looking for great student life, you now know where to look! ECU has been ranked in the world’s top 150 universities under 50 years old in 201 by Times Higher Education. ECU graduates have given the university 5-Star rating for teaching quality for 11 years in a row- from 2007 to 2018, it is the only public university in Western Australia who has achieved such a consistently high endorsement for teaching quality.
ECU is also home to one of just two Academic Centres of Cyber Security Excellence in Australia!
| Course | Bachelor of Science in Cyber Security |
| Intake | Feb or June |
| Duration | 3 years |
| Indicative annual fee: | AUD$ 31, 250 |
For more information about entry requirements and how to apply, please contact Excel Education.
Excited to live and study in Perth yet? We’ll be glad to tell you more!
Contact us to find out more:
Sydney, Australia
Phone: + 612 8385 7224
Email: [email protected]
Petaling Jaya, Malaysia
Phone: +60182414802
Email: [email protected]
Guangzhou, China
Phone: +862 0223 77740
Email: [email protected]
For more stories like this, join the Excel Education community on Facebook
Need help with your uni application? Connect with us here
About Post Author
Natalie is a freelance writer with over 7 years of experience in content creation industry; she loves sharing her experiences and insights through writing. She finds it rewarding when students find her articles helpful and informative.