Edinburgh named the UK’s 5th safest student city during Freshers, new study reveals
Freshers season is exciting, but it is also one of the few times in life when thousands of people arrive in an unfamiliar city at roughly the same time, often going out more, meeting new people and finding their way around after dark.
New research from ID card specialists ID Card Centre has revealed which UK student cities recorded the strongest safety results during the 2025 Freshers season.
The study analysed recorded crime across September and October 2025, using a consistent city-centre catchment wherever comparable street-level data was available. Overall crime, violent crime and antisocial behaviour were assessed relative to the number of students enrolled at the included university provider.
St Andrews takes the top spot with a safety score of 94 out of 100. Just 120 crimes were recorded across September and October 2025, working out at only 103 per 10,000 students, the lowest rate in the ranking, alongside 18 violent offences and 11 antisocial behaviour incidents.
Dundee follows in second place with a safety score of 92.1. The city recorded 280 crimes across the two months, equivalent to around 155 per 10,000 students, with 43 violent offences and 32 antisocial behaviour incidents.
Stirling completes an all-Scottish top three with a safety score of 89.1. Its 309 recorded crimes equate to around 207 per 10,000 students, while 86 violent offences and 40 antisocial behaviour incidents were recorded.
Derry/Londonderry is the highest-ranking destination outside Scotland, taking fourth place with a safety score of 85.5. It recorded 700 crimes across the Freshers period, or roughly 203 per 10,000 students, which is slightly lower than Stirling's overall rate despite finishing one place behind it once violence and ASB are factored in.
Edinburgh ranks fifth with a safety score of 83.1. Its raw total of 1,670 crimes is considerably higher than the four cities above it, but against more than 41,000 University of Edinburgh students, that falls to around 405 crimes per 10,000.
Oxford is the safest English city in the ranking, placing sixth with a safety score of 82.7. It recorded 1,096 crimes across September and October, equivalent to around 402 per 10,000 students, while its 83 antisocial behaviour incidents are notably lower than several cities around it.
Durham follows in seventh with a safety score of 81.9. It recorded only 720 crimes in total, fewer than both Oxford and Edinburgh, and has a lower overall crime rate too at around 324 per 10,000 students. Its higher ASB rate relative to the cities immediately above it, however, pulls its final score down slightly.
Bangor is Wales' highest-ranking student city, taking eighth place with a safety score of 79.6. Just 363 crimes were recorded during the period, or around 346 per 10,000 students, including 136 violent offences and 60 antisocial behaviour incidents.
Aberdeen comes ninth with a safety score of 75.7. The Police Scotland ward used for the analysis recorded 758 crimes, equivalent to around 458 per 10,000 students, with 149 violent offences and 88 antisocial behaviour incidents.
Aberystwyth rounds out the top 10 with a safety score of 75.5. It recorded just 326 crimes in raw terms, the third-lowest total among the top 10, although its smaller student population pushes that to around 416 crimes per 10,000 students. Its 33 antisocial behaviour incidents are also among the lowest in the leading group.
Ben O'Brien, Managing Director at ID Card Centre, said: “What this shows more than anything is how different the Freshers experience can be depending on where you go to university. The places at the top are mostly smaller student cities, while quite a few of the big nightlife destinations sit much further down.
“That probably isn’t a coincidence. Somewhere like St Andrews has a very different city centre to London, Bristol or Newcastle. There are fewer people passing through, less late-night footfall and generally less going on in a much smaller area. In a bigger city, students are sharing that space with commuters, tourists, shoppers and a much larger nightlife crowd, so naturally there’s more opportunity for crime to be recorded too.
“It’s also interesting that the ranking changes once you look at crime against the size of the student population rather than just the raw numbers. Aberystwyth, for example, only recorded 326 crimes across the two months, but because its student population is much smaller it finishes tenth rather than right at the top. That’s why we wanted to look beyond simply saying which city had the most or least crime.
“None of this means students should choose a university based on a crime table, and being lower down certainly doesn’t mean you’re going to have a bad or unsafe experience there. These are busy city-centre areas and the figures cover everyone using them, not just students.
“But Freshers is probably the point when students know their surroundings the least. You don’t necessarily know which route home is best yet, who actually lives in your halls or where you last put your student ID after a night out. That’s when the simple stuff matters: keep hold of your phone and cards, don’t lend out access passes, be a bit careful about who you let into accommodation, and report an ID card quickly if it goes missing."