London ranked best city in the world for university students... despite 'eye-wateringly' expensive costs

London has been named as the best city in the world for university students despite being "eye-wateringly" expensive, a new study shows.

The capital had previously come third behind Montreal and Paris in the QS Best Student Cities Ranking, which rates the world's top 100 universities.

The ranking is based on six factors including the local jobs market, the student culture and academic performance.

While London ranked poorly on one of the measures, affordability, increasingly positive responses to QS's student survey resulted in the capital bagging the top spot.

The survey asked students about the quality of experience in a city and whether they would stay there after graduating.

The ranking of university cities is produced by the QS higher education group, which publishes the annual World University Rankings.

Ben Sowter, Research Director at QS, said: "The 2018 ranking highlights the enduring quality of the student experience available in London.

"The city benefits from outstanding employment prospects, more world-class universities than any other city, and enviable lifestyle opportunities.

"These factors mean that the capital remains a great place to study despite eye-watering costs - as more than 50,000 student respondents to QS's survey have made clear."

Tokyo rose to second place in this year's rankings, it's highest ever position, and Melbourne rose from fifth to third.

But no city in the United States achieved a top 10 place in the student cities ranking, despite American universities dominating the World University Rankings.

The academic league table is this year headed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology followed by Stanford, Harvard and California Institute of Technology.