London is the epicentre of the United Kingdom’s, and arguably the world’s, higher education system generating £17 billion of goods and services in 2020 according to the CBI. With more than 50 universities, the capital is a popular destination for UK and international students, and home to four of the world’s top 50 universities.
In the 2020/21 academic year, there were an astonishing 370,000 full-time higher education students studying in London, which is around four times the 97,000 Purpose-Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) beds available; a student-to-bed ratio that is almost tragically inadequate. Growth in full-time students from 2015/16 to 2020/21 was 80,000, equivalent to adding the University of Birmingham and Nottingham Trent University to the capital in just five years. HEPI’s 2020 report, Demand to 2035, foresees continuing significant student growth in London.
