Address: Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom
Medicine, Neuroscience, Laws
A leading public research university, a constituent college of the University of London. Known for its multidisciplinary research and progressive ethos. Consistently ranked among the world’s top universities.
University College London, UCL, was founded in 1826 as London University, and it was the first university in England to admit students regardless of their religion. It admitted women on equal terms with men from 1878, a pioneering step. It has about 48,000 students and 13,000 staff, and around half of the students come from abroad. The main campus is on Gower Street, in Bloomsbury, in the centre of London, with the neoclassical Wilkins Building and its portico facing the main quad.
The philosopher Jeremy Bentham, an inspiration for the founders, is remembered in the famous auto-icon, his preserved body displayed in a wooden cabinet in the South Cloisters. Alexander Graham Bell, Mahatma Gandhi, who attended lectures in law, and Francis Crick, who studied physics, are among the people linked to the college. The chemist William Ramsay, who discovered the noble gases and received the 1904 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, worked at UCL.
UCL is organised in eleven faculties, covering arts and humanities, the Bartlett built environment, brain sciences, engineering, the Institute of Education, laws, life sciences, mathematical and physical sciences, medical sciences, population health and social and historical sciences. The Slade School of Fine Art and the Bartlett School of Architecture are famous in their fields. The UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health and the Queen Square Institute of Neurology are major research centres linked to hospitals.
UCL East, a new campus in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, opened in recent years to host research and teaching in engineering, design and data. Undergraduate applications go through UCAS. Tuition for home students is capped by the government at about nine and a half thousand pounds a year, while international students pay much higher fees, often between twenty-five and forty thousand pounds depending on the course, and more for medicine. Check the current tariff.
Teaching is in English. London is expensive, and students share flats or stay in the university halls, which are spread across the city. The Underground and many bus lines serve the Bloomsbury campus.
Domains taught:
AI and Machine Learning, Data Analytics, Engineering, Life Sciences, Physics, Robotics, Software Engineering
Diplomas*:
Bachelor, Doctor, Master, MBA
Status:
Public
Partnerships:
Member of Russell Group, LERU, and Global U7+ Alliance. Extensive global research collaborations and industry partnerships (e.g., in AI, health, engineering). 30 Nobel laureates among former staff/students.
Research:
World-leading research across a vast range of disciplines, particularly strong in medical sciences, brain sciences, laws, education, engineering, and computer science (AI).
Famous Alumnis:
Alexander Graham Bell, Mahatma Gandhi, Francis Crick, Chris Martin (Coldplay), Ricky Gervais
International recognition**:
Number of staff***:
13000
Current students***:
48000
Foreign students***:
50%
Cumulative former students***:
300000
Pros
Globally renowned multidisciplinary university, exceptional research power, central London location, highly influential and innovative.
Cons
Extremely competitive admissions, large and sprawling campus, high cost of living in London.
Best For
Highly ambitious students seeking a world-class, research-intensive, multidisciplinary education at one of the globe’s leading universities, in the heart of London.
The University of Edinburgh overlaps with this university on robotics, physics and life sciences, so the two are easy to compare, and it teaches at the same levels, namely bachelor's, master's, doctoral and mba, and has almost the same size, at about 46,000 students.
The comparison with The University of Manchester is straightforward on subjects, since both focus on physics, life sciences and AI and machine learning, and it covers chemistry and materials as well, and has almost the same size, at about 46,500 students.
King's College London works in much the same fields, chiefly robotics, physics and life sciences, and it does not run the mba programmes found here and covers mathematics as well.
A good alternative in the same country is University of Nottingham, which likewise covers physics, life sciences and AI and machine learning; it covers agriculture and chemistry as well, and has almost the same size, at about 46,500 students.
University of Glasgow follows much the same lines as this university, with physics, life sciences and AI and machine learning as common ground, and it is slightly smaller, at about 36,000 students against roughly 48,000 here, and is also a public institution.
Most Similar Schools Abroad
If this university is on your list for physics, life sciences and data analytics, Columbia University in the United States deserves a comparison, because it runs the same bachelor's, master's, doctoral and mba programmes, and covers project management as well.
McGill University in Canada shares the physics, life sciences and data analytics orientation of this university, and it is also a public institution and also offers graduate certificate and graduate diploma programmes.
If this institution is on your list for life sciences, data analytics and AI and machine learning, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in the United States deserves a comparison, because it is also a public institution, and teaches at the same levels, namely bachelor's, master's, doctoral and mba.
Seen from abroad, McMaster University (Canada) is a close relative on subject matter, since physics, life sciences and data analytics are central to both, and it is slightly smaller, at about 37,500 students against roughly 48,000 here, and is also a public institution.
Nanyang Technological University in Singapore is the nearest foreign match on physics, life sciences and data analytics; it covers chemistry and mathematics as well, and is slightly smaller, at about 37,458 students against roughly 48,000 here.
*our own picks (our criteria: a mix between domains, diploma delivered, reputation and size), but obviously too many criteria for an apple-to-apple ranking.
FAQ
Where is UCL?
On Gower Street in Bloomsbury, London, England.
When was it founded?
In 1826, as London University.
Why is it historically important?
It was the first university in England to admit students regardless of religion, and it admitted women on equal terms from 1878.
How large is it?
About 48,000 students and 13,000 staff, with around half of the students from abroad.
What is the auto-icon?
The preserved body of the philosopher Jeremy Bentham, displayed in the South Cloisters.
Who studied or worked there?
Alexander Graham Bell, Mahatma Gandhi, Francis Crick and the chemist William Ramsay.
What are its famous schools?
The Slade School of Fine Art and the Bartlett School of Architecture.
What is UCL East?
A newer campus in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park for research and teaching in engineering, design and data.
What does it cost?
Home tuition is capped at about nine and a half thousand pounds a year. International fees are much higher. Check the current tariff.
*: without any judgment of the quality, readers are strongly encouraged to check the official status of the exact diploma envisioned as many universities have a mix of recognized diplomas, not recognized, “co-delivered,” “equivalent to”, “some pathways” (…), can change over time, and can be named differently from one country to another.
**: international reputation: is based on some criteria that do not mean much in some domains or specialties (number of researchers, of scientific publications, on budget ….). Our approximate 1-4 scale:
known locally
known locally and internationally
is listed in some of the world university’s classifications
is listed among the 20 firsts in some of world university’s classifications
***: estimated numbers, based on online sources and/or feedbacks. The numbers can vary greatly depending on school organisation (ex.: school is part of a group, it employs internal staff or external consultants or has public staff without employing them …). Refer to all the links provided to have accurate and updated numbers.
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