Sheffield is a historic city with top-ranked universities for international students and a population of about 520,000 residents located in the Yorkshire county of central United Kingdom. Known worldwide as an early centre of the industrial revolution and many large-scale businesses, Sheffield is also home to as many as 250 parks and other green areas. In fact, there are almost five million trees spread across the city!
With over 60,000 student residents, you will always feel welcomed by a vibrant young community in Sheffield. Sheffield is also conveniently located only about an hour away from larger cities such as Manchester and Liverpool, allowing international students to easily transport to and from their home countries to Sheffield.
Sheffield offers international students two top-ranked universities, alongside multiple other specialised institutes offering degrees and certificates in certain subject areas.
Originally founded in 1843 as the Sheffield School of Design and recently designated as a university by the United Kingdom government in 1992, Sheffield Hallam University is now the UK’s sixth largest university with over 30,000 enrolled students. Of these, over 4,000 are international students, indicating the high degree of comfort you will feel while pursuing your academics at the university.
You will be in a great position to finalise your career choices after graduation, because more than half of the courses offered to international students at Sheffield Hallam University include work placements at world-class local businesses and industrial centres as part of the course curriculum.
Sheffield Hallam University has two campuses; one is close to downtown Sheffield, while the other is a few miles away on the outskirts of the city. Having originally functioned as a school of design, the university continues to offer world-class courses in architecture, design, and social sciences, alongside more popular departments including business and engineering sciences.
Over 700 courses across undergraduate and postgraduate programs are offered in the following three departments at Sheffield Hallam University:
Founded in 1897 after the merger of three major local universities, the University of Sheffield is one of the United Kingdom’s top-ranked universities. The University of Sheffield is a member of the prestigious Russell Group, a group of 24 top-ranked Universities in the United Kingdom with a shared focus on research and a reputation for academic achievement.
International students will especially benefit from the high proportion of international enrolments on campus – nearly 9,000 or 30% of the University of Sheffield’s 30,000 total enrolment is international students. The University of Sheffield is one of the United Kingdom’s most highly-funded research universities, and is well-known for its top-quality innovation and research in engineering and life sciences.
The University of Sheffield has been in the global top 100 of the QS World Rankings for the past 15 years, and continues to set standards for its support of international students and their career prospects. Unlike most top-ranked universities for international students, the University of Sheffield does not have a specific campus; its 430 university buildings are spread all over the city of Sheffield. The two central neighbourhoods of the University of Sheffield are the Western Bank Campus and the St George’s Campus. The University of Sheffield is home to multiple award-winning research institutes such as the Healthy Lifespan Centre, the Neuroscience Institute and the University of Sheffield Energy Institute.
International students who want to experience mainland Europe while studying in the United Kingdom will be especially interested in the University of Sheffield. The university operates an international faculty institute called CITY College in Thessaloniki, the second largest city in Greece. International students can pursue specific courses at the CITY College campus if they decide to spend a semester in Greece.
The University of Sheffield has particularly strong postgraduate programs, and is one of the seven largest universities in the United Kingdom for postgraduate student enrollment. Among the University of Sheffield’s famous alumni are Olympic Gold medal winner Jessica Ennis-Hill and multiple Booker Prize-winning author Hillary Mantel.
Courses at the University of Sheffield are offered to international students in the following departments:
Below are the top-ranked Sheffield universities for international students, with their ranks in two of the world’s most well-respected international university rankings, the QS 2025 University World rankings and the Times Higher Education 2025 Rankings.
For more information about rankings systems and methodologies see our University rankings explained guide.
| University | QS World Ranking 2025 | Times Higher Education Ranking 2025 |
| University of Sheffield | =105 | =98 |
| Sheffield Hallam University | 1,001-1,200 | 801-1,000 |
As the rankings indicate, the University of Sheffield is one of the top-ranked UK universities, while Sheffield Hallam University is also an excellent option for international students interested in Sheffield.
In addition to Sheffield Hallam University and the University of Sheffield, the city also offers international students the chance to study at many specialised institutes for work-study certificates and degrees. These are:
According to the University of Sheffield, undergraduate tuition costs for international students range between 25,000-30,000 US Dollars annually. This figure is higher for Dentistry and medical courses at about 38,000-40,000 US Dollars per year. Meanwhile, postgraduate tuition fees depend on the course selected, and can range from 20,000-35,000 US Dollars on average.
As for living expenses, the University of Sheffield estimates that undergraduate international students require about 13,000-15,000 US Dollars every year to afford shared accommodation rental fees, utilities bills, food expenses, transport expenses, entertainment and miscellaneous expenses. This figure will be slightly greater at about 15,000-18,000 US Dollars annually for postgraduate international students because they spend more time on campus for the duration of their courses.
Sheffield offers an endless list of nearby historical attractions, cultural events, theatre and performing arts, as well as a vibrant collection of nightclubs and concert venues. The natural beauty and greenery of nearby regions means that international students in Sheffield can regularly take hikes and walking tours of scenic spots.
Those interested in history and industry will be especially attracted to the vast collection of factories and museums in Sheffield which contain equipment and documents from the time of the Industrial Revolution, including large-scale factories for stainless steel appliances and cutlery.
Some of the attractions in and around Sheffield include:
In addition to the plenty of cultural and tourist attractions, international students in top-ranked Sheffield universities can frequently travel to nearby cities such as Manchester and Liverpool, as well as Scottish tourism destinations such as Edinburgh. Meanwhile, for international students who love seaside towns, you only need to drive a couple of hours to the east or west of Sheffield and you will find yourself in beautiful coastal regions of central United Kingdom.
You will never run out of chances to explore the countryside while in Sheffield, and you will also find plenty of activities outside the classroom to participate in while you take short breaks from your world-class academics.
See our Studying in the UK directory for more information about being an international student in the country, as well as other cities, tuition fees and a full list of courses/subjects available.
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