Best places in South East for students

Persona weighting: Affordability (rent) 35%, Connectivity (broadband) 25%, Safety (low crime) 15%, Living cost (council tax) 15%, Schools (Ofsted Good+) 5%, Health (life expectancy) 5%.

Updated quarterly · last recomputed 2026-06-19 from the latest government data releases.

What is the best place to live in South East for students?

As of 2026-06-19, the best South East local authority for students is Bracknell Forest, scoring 74.2/100 on the Gera Persona Fit index — a persona-weighted composite of rent, crime, Ofsted schools, broadband, life expectancy and council tax across 64 South East local authorities. GeraRent recomputes it quarterly.

Gera Persona Fit: Bracknell Forest 74.2/100How this is computed

#	Area	Persona Fit	GLS
1	Bracknell Forest	74.2	76.0
2	Milton Keynes	73.5	70.1
3	Gosport	72.8	66.6
4	Worthing	72.3	66.3
5	Southampton	71.3	62.9
6	Fareham	71.0	69.5
7	Rushmoor	71.0	67.4
8	West Oxfordshire	69.9	67.5
9	Portsmouth	69.5	64.5
10	Slough	69.4	66.8
11	Medway	68.9	65.2
12	Reading	68.4	65.0
13	Adur	68.3	65.4
14	Epsom and Ewell	68.2	69.3
15	Isle of Wight	68.2	56.7
16	Havant	67.9	64.9
17	West Berkshire	67.9	67.5
18	Eastbourne	67.8	62.4
19	Swale	67.4	62.4
20	Thanet	66.8	60.7
21	Cherwell	66.4	64.0
22	Wokingham	65.6	67.4
23	Crawley	65.2	63.4
24	Dover	65.0	60.9
25	Gravesham	64.9	62.3
26	Basingstoke and Deane	64.7	63.6
27	Mid Sussex	64.7	64.5
28	Spelthorne	64.6	63.6
29	Vale of White Horse	64.6	64.9
30	Windsor and Maidenhead	64.5	66.0
31	Horsham	64.0	65.3
32	Runnymede	63.2	63.2
33	Ashford	63.0	61.9
34	Eastleigh	62.6	63.2
35	Folkestone and Hythe	62.5	59.0
36	Maidstone	62.5	60.9
37	New Forest	62.5	63.7
38	South Oxfordshire	62.4	63.4
39	Hart	62.3	64.6
40	Reigate and Banstead	62.3	62.6
41	Tunbridge Wells	62.3	62.9
42	Surrey Heath	62.2	63.4
43	Hastings	62.0	56.1
44	Buckinghamshire	61.3	61.5
45	East Hampshire	61.3	62.3
46	Test Valley	61.2	62.2
47	Tonbridge and Malling	60.6	60.9
48	Canterbury	60.5	59.0
49	Rother	60.5	58.9
50	Dartford	59.6	58.7
51	Chichester	59.1	59.9
52	Elmbridge	58.8	62.7
53	Woking	58.7	61.3
54	Waverley	58.5	61.2
55	Lewes	58.1	58.5
56	Guildford	57.9	61.6
57	Wealden	57.2	58.0
58	Mole Valley	55.6	60.5
59	Sevenoaks	55.5	59.3
60	Arun	55.2	55.6
61	Tandridge	55.1	58.2
62	Winchester	55.1	59.1
63	Brighton and Hove	54.6	53.7
64	Oxford	49.3	53.5

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Sources (all Open Government Licence v3.0):

ONS — Price Index of Private Rents — as of May 2026.
HM Land Registry — UK House Price Index — as of April 2026.
MHCLG — Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England — as of 2026-27.
Ofcom — Connected Nations (Gera Broadband Index) — as of July 2024.
ONS — Life expectancy by local authority — as of 2017-19.
Ofsted — State-funded school inspection outcomes — as of 31 May 2026.
Home Office — Police recorded crime (PFA) + ONS population — as of Year ending December 2025.

Licence: Open Government Licence v3.0 © Crown copyright. Recorded-crime figures are neutral official statistics shown as context only and must not be used to characterise an area or its residents.