thumb|[[Senate House (University of London)|Senate House, in Bloomsbury, is the administrative centre of the University of London, a federation of London higher education institutions.]]
thumb|[[Imperial College London]]
thumb|[[King's College London]]
thumb|[[Royal College of Music]]
thumb|[[London Metropolitan University]]
thumb|[[University College London]]
London is a leading global educational centre, having one of the largest populations of overseas students of any city in the world.
Universities
London has the largest student population of any British city, although not the highest per capita.
The federal University of London, which, with over 120,000 students, is the largest contact teaching university in the United Kingdom (smaller only than the distance-education Open University) and one of the largest universities in Europe. It comprises 19 colleges and 12 institutes, as well as a distance-learning External System. Constituent colleges have a high degree of autonomy, controlling their own admissions and degree programmes, and are effectively universities in their own right. The largest and most well-known University of London colleges include (in order of student population size) University College London, King's College London, Birkbeck, Queen Mary, the London School of Economics and Political Science, Royal Holloway, Goldsmiths, City, and the Institute of Education. Smaller schools and institutes (with fewer than 5,000 students) include the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), the London Business School, the School of Pharmacy, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, St. George's Hospital Medical School and Central School of Speech and Drama. Traditionally all of the University of London institutions awarded degrees from the University of London itself, and not from the individual college or institution, but this changed in 2007/2008 when King's College London, the London School of Economics, University College London and the Institute of Education remained within the University of London system, but began awarding their own degrees. Imperial College London was a part of the University of London until 2007, but is now a separate institution.
There are also other universities not part of the University of London, most of which were polytechnics until UK polytechnics were granted university status by the Further and Higher Education Act 1992. Among these are the University of Westminster, London South Bank University, University of Greenwich, Middlesex University, London Metropolitan University, Brunel University, University of West London, the University of East London, and various other higher education institutions.
There are also a large number of specialised institutions, branches of UK universities based outside London, branches of foreign universities, and private universities and training colleges.
Research
Imperial College London, King's College London, LSE, Barts and UCL are leading centres of research and stand alongside MIT, Berkeley, Princeton, Johns Hopkins, Yale and other US universities in terms of international reputation.
Most of the leading British learned societies are based in London. The Royal Institution is a historic and important repository and proponent of the acquisition of scientific knowledge through research and study.
Other institutions of higher education
There are also a number of firms and colleges in London which provide education and consultation leading to degrees validated by universities, but which are not actual universities themselves. Some of these colleges are private institutions very similar to actual universities, such as European Business School, Aspley Business School London, London School of Business and Management and Regents University.
Further education
London also has many further education (FE) and sixth form colleges funded by the Learning and Skills Council. Traditionally the further education colleges were clearly separated from the higher education system, and offered vocational education below university level, but this distinction is breaking down and many further education colleges now offer university level courses validated by a local university and prepare students for university entrance, as well as providing vocational courses.
Most London boroughs have an 11-18 comprehensive system for the provision of 16 to 19 year olds; these always or nearly always have comprehensive schools with a sixth form attached to it, alongside an FE college within the borough, with about half of young students in each. Croydon, Havering, Newham and Waltham Forest are sixth form college reorganised where there are usually two sixth form colleges along with a general FE college, with only few public schools maintaining sixth forms (in the case of Newham, no schools apart from Catholic ones). For a long time, two boroughs namely Harrow and Richmond upon Thames used a tertiary provision where all education for young learners was based at tertiary colleges (except Catholic faith-based institutions in Harrow) and no public schools with sixth forms existed. Both boroughs have recently moved away from this system - Harrow introduced school sixth forms for the first time in 2008, while Richmond upon Thames did so in 2012. A few outer boroughs are selective, containing comprehensive schools with sixth forms, FE or sixth form colleges, and multiple grammar schools.