University College London

One of the world’s leading universities, UCL is London’s top multidisciplinary research university with an international reputation for the quality of its research and teaching.

Defining characteristics of a UCL education:

An exceptional learning environment

- UCL is rated joint-fifth in the QS World University Rankings
- UCL has the best academic to student ratio in the UK (1:10) (The Guardian university league table 2015)
- Nobel Prizes have been awarded to 29 people who are, or were, students or academics at UCL.
- Based in Bloomsbury, central London, UCL is surrounded by the greatest concentration of libraries, museums, archives and professional bodies in Europe
- UCL attracts top academics and students from 151 different countries, resulting in a vibrant and cosmopolitan academic community.

A global leader in generating new knowledge

- UCL is the top-rated university in the UK for research strength in the Research Excellence Framework 2014, by a measure of average research score multiplied by staff numbers submitted
- Pioneering UCL research feeds directly into our graduate programmes, resulting in novel interdisciplinary programmes in emergent disciplines. Explore our 700 graduate programmes in our online prospectus
- UCL’s research-based teaching methodology means that research is integrated into many of our degrees and students have the opportunity to make an original contribution to their field of study

Advancing your career

- UCL is the fourth highest rated university in Europe for employability (Global Employability University Ranking 2014)
- UCL was awarded an Employer Review score of 99.4 out of 100 in the QS World University Rankings 2015
- The average starting salary for UCL Master’s graduates was £27,346 in 2013-14 (HESA 2013)

A distinctive ethos

- UCL was founded in 1826 to open up university education in England to those who had been excluded from it. In 1878, it became the first university in England to admit women students on equal terms with men
- UCL’s ethos is strongly influenced by its spiritual founder Jeremy Bentham, the utilitarian philosopher, who famously said: "it is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong”
- This philosophy manifests itself today in UCL’s approach and commitment to tackling global problems and the importance it places on global citizenship
- More locally, UCL is the only London university to be a Beacon of Public Engagement, working with partners to build closer involvement between universities, local communities and the wider public.

What others say about UCL:

“Complex problems require complex responses. The only institutions in our society that bring together a range of different actors from different disciplines are universities. And UCL is paramountly the absolute best place to go to look for this kind of multidisciplinary response to one of the greatest challenges facing the world.” Dr Richard Horton, Editor of 'The Lancet', on the UCL-Lancet Commission on Managing the Health Effects of Climate Change.