London: London has been ranked as the top city for students in the world, with Indian students making up the fourth-largest category.
The top student cities in the latest edition of 'QS Best Student Cities Rankings' ranks Tokyo, Melbourne, Montreal and Paris to complete this year's top five based on factors such as the number of top universities in a city, the local jobs market, the diversity of the culture and the quality of life.
In a related study released by the Mayor of London's promotional agency London & Partners (L&P), Indian students are among the dominant group of international students in the city. In 2016-17, there were 4,545 Indian students in London accounting for 26 per cent of all Indian students in the UK, L&P said.
As the city's fourth-largest student market after China, America and Italy, the average Indian student in London spends 30,100 pounds and contributed 137 million pounds in total spending in London in 2016-17.
"We have more leading universities and international students than any other city and I want to make sure it stays that way," said London Mayor Sadiq Khan. "London is open as the best place to study, do business and innovate and a city where all Londoners can take advantage of these opportunities," he said on Wednesday.
International students now make-up 41 per cent of the city's entire student population, up from 34 per cent in 2012-13.
Measuring the economic value of London's international students, the L&P study highlights that the city's overseas students are an important source of growth for London and the UK's economy. In 2016-17, London attracted over 112,000 international students, with the study showing that they contributed 3.45 billion pounds in economic value to the capital an 11 per cent increase from the previous year.
"The 2018 rankings cycle highlights the enduring quality of student experience available in London. The city benefits from outstanding employment prospects, more world-class universities than any other city, and enviable lifestyle opportunities," said Ben Sowter, Research Director at QS.
"These factors mean that London remains a great place to study despite eye-watering costs as more than 50,000 student respondents to QS's survey have made clear," Sowter said.
The QS rankings found that London had a higher number of globally-ranked universities than any other city. The city improved its "Desirability" rank by seven places, and now ranks 18th for this metric measuring a range of quality-of-living factors such as pollution, safety and corruption levels.
London's largest rank improvement this year came via "Student View", which now places the city 13th an improvement of 10 places. This metric is based on a student survey conducted by QS, and accounts for over 50,000 student responses.
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