London is a top location for international university students, new research revealed last week.
The research revealed that five of the UK’s top 10 universities for international students are based in London.
Ivory Research, which specialises in academia, used data on spending support per international student, percentage of students from outside the UK, and ranking in global league tables to calculate the results.
South West London’s Kingston University was in the top ten, along with Regent’s University London, LSE, University of the Arts London and University College London.
Yasmin Noor is Student Opportunities Officer at the student union of Kingston University, London.
She spoke about the range of opportunities the university has to offer international students: “At Kingston we have a variety of support and activities on offer ranging from a number of sports and societies including faith and culture, alongside numerous events which we encourage all out students to get involved with.”
Regent’s University London boasts a huge 81.5% of its body as international students. The other two UK universities with a majority of students from overseas are LSE (67.8%) and University of the Arts, London (53.9%).
Maria Ovdii, from Ivory Research, said: “It’s hardly surprising that the UK is so popular for international students as it boasts world-renowned universities, a culturally diverse environment and highly skilled academic staff.
“The impact of the pandemic has seen International students across the globe face unprecedented challenges.”
She also noted: “The research findings on spending per international student are rather shocking, with some universities spending as little as 73p extra for support!”
Universities around the world celebrated their diverse student bodies on 17 November, International Students’ Day.
Indeed, more international students than ever are coming to the UK, as the 2019/20 intake of 556,625 students marked a 12% increase from the previous year.
The growth is driven largely by non-EU students, although EU intake has remained high despite Brexit.
The number of students coming to the UK from China has risen sharply in recent years, whilst EU students continue to make a significant proportion of the international student body.
