three equally-weighted attributes: a well-developed public education system, would consider attending university there, and provides top-quality education.
As someone from the UK, I'm not at all convinced that we have a world-beating education system. We probably score highly on the second criterion, as UK universities have transformed over the last couple of decades from centres of learning to degree-factory businesses. they put a lot of effort into trying to attract high-paying international students, particularly from China.
It might also be worth looking at the result of the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). This "measures 15-year-olds’ ability to use their reading, mathematics and science knowledge and skills to meet real-life challenges". Note that the image below is sorted by the 'reading' category.
https://www.oecd.org/pisa/PISA%202018%20Insights%20and%20Interpretations%20FINAL%20PDF.pdf
