London universities have launched the ‘Study London’ campaign to promote the city as a safe and welcoming place for international students. The campaign highlights London’s diversity, inclusiveness and excellent career prospects. According to The Standard, the initiative is in response to concerns that new restrictions on international students could discourage applicants and reduce university funding.

Diana Beech, chief executive of London Higher, which represents 50 universities and higher education institutions in the capital, said confidence in the UK as a place to study and research had been “significantly damaged” by recent changes to immigration rules, including the abolition of visas for dependants.

The British government last month announced further tightening of student visas, aimed at reducing the number of international students coming to the UK.

However, the British Government Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) reviews new Graduate Route Visa and found that A post-study visa programme known as the Graduate Route Visa is helping UK universities recover from financial losses and expand research opportunities. Indian nationals represent the largest group in the student visa categoryWhich was 43% of the previous year’s grant.

The ‘Study London’ campaign will see stories from current students shared on a dedicated website to help prospective students experience life in the city.

Beech stressed that the campaign aimed to maintain a global focus on the benefits of studying at London universities and to reestablish London as a safe and welcoming city.

The Standard quoted Beech as saying: “When London’s universities succeed, the whole country succeeds.”

Highlighting the importance of London’s universities to the UK’s international competitiveness, Beech said London’s world-leading institutions are essential to attracting top global talent.

Recently, Imperial College London has overtaken Oxford and Cambridge in the QS World University Rankings, and is now ranked second after the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Four other London universities, including University College London, King’s College London, London School of Economics and Queen Mary University of London, also featured in the global top 20.

Beech emphasised that London’s strengths as a hub for global higher education remain strong, providing a strong foundation for attracting the world’s best thinkers, innovators and entrepreneurs to drive growth in the city and across the country.

“London’s universities are vital to the capital and to the country. They educate over half a million students each year and encourage many students to seek options elsewhere in the UK, yet keep them close to the capital and take them away from our main competitive economies such as Australia, Canada or the United States,” Beech was quoted as saying by The Standard.