TEACHING
QUALITY
London School of Economics and Political Science
5
th
NATIONAL
RANK
RANK
79.3%
FIRSTS
2:1s
2:1s
96.3%
COMPLETION
RATE
RATE
Key Stats
n/a
108th=
STUDENT
EXPERIENCE
EXPERIENCE
3rd
RESEARCH
QUALITY
QUALITY
5th
GRADUATE
PROSPECTS
PROSPECTS
Contact details
ADDRESS
Houghton Street, London, WC2A 2AE View on map >
Telephone
Email
Website
Open days
contact the university
University Profile
Always among the leading universities in the world for the social sciences, the LSE’s 9,000-plus students study in the heart of London on a tightly-packed campus around Aldwych. Consideration of a move to a more spacious campus has now been shelved and the school expanded into former government buildings in Lincoln’s Inn Fields last year, adjoining the Houghton Street headquarters.
It has also opened its first new building for more than 40 years, the Saw Swee Hock Student Centre (SAW), last January. SAW, which is the Royal Institute of British Architects’ London Building of the Year, houses the students’ union, as well as the careers and accommodation services and a multifaith prayer centre.
Now the school is spending £90m on Global Centre for Social Sciences, which will involve the redevelopment of a number of existing buildings. It had already improved and extended the teaching space considerably in 2008.
The LSE (which ranks fifth this year) has been seldom out of the top three in our league table; it had 12 applicants to the place in 2013 – more than any other university in the UK. The
Areas of study range more broadly than the School’s name suggests: the 250 undergraduate courses range as far as law, management, mathematics and environmental policy. Two new degrees are introduced in 2015: a four-year BSc in philosophy, politics and economics (PPE) and a three-year BSc in politics and international relations.
Only Oxbridge recorded higher average scores than the LSE in the last Research Assessment Exercise, which saw almost 70% of the school’s submission rated world-leading or internationally excellent; at subject level 95% of the economics submission, 80% in social policy and 75% in law reached the top two categories.
The school has a long history of political involvement, from its foundation by Beatrice and Sidney Webb, pioneers of the Fabian movement, to the 31 alumni who are MPs and 42 current members of the House of Lords.
The tradition lives on, not only among the academics, but in a students’ union which claims to be the only one in Britain to hold weekly general meetings at which every student may attend and vote.
The campus has a cosmopolitan feel that derives from the highest proportion of overseas students at any publicly funded university. More than 30 past or present heads of state have either been students at, or taught at, the university, as have 16 Nobel prizewinners in economics, literature and peace – including George Bernard Shaw, Bertrand Russell, Friedrich von Hayek and Amartya Sen. The latest of them was Professor Christopher Pissarides, who shared the prize for economics in 2010.
Graduate prospects are among the best with more than 83% of students gaining professional jobs or going into postgraduate study within six months of leaving – an exceptional record for a social science-led institution. This success earns the LSE our University of the Year award for Graduate Employment.
Its international character not only gives the LSE global prestige but also an unusual degree of financial independence: only a small proportion of its funding comes from government sources.
Almost 30% of the British undergraduates are from independent schools, and just one in five are from working class backgrounds, although both figures are close to the national average for the LSE’s subjects and entry qualifications.
Substantial efforts are being made to attract a broader intake: the school is spending half of its additional fee income on student support and other activities to widen participation – a bigger proportion than any other university. There are even two new £20,000 annual bursaries on offer for students who win places who are asylum seekers or who have been given limited leave to remain in the UK.
The LSE is one of 12 universities selected to deliver the Sutton Trust’s Pathways to Law programme, giving state school students from non-privileged backgrounds the opportunity to sample a specialised legal programme before choosing a degree.
The LSE’s projected dropout rate of less than 4% is among the lowest at any university.
The £30m Norman Foster-designed redevelopment of the Lionel Robbins Building houses a much-improved library. The move was a welcome one since the number of books borrowed by LSE students is more than four times the national average, according to one survey.
Routes between most of the buildings have been pedestrianised, in keeping with a commitment to green issues that has seen the School in the top echelons of the People and Planet Green League of universities’ environmental performance for five years in a row.
Partying is not the prime attraction of the LSE for most applicants, who tend to be serious about their subject, but London’s top nightspots are on the doorstep for those who can afford them.
The 3,900 residential places for 9,500 full-time students offer a good chance of avoiding central London’s notoriously high private-sector rents; there are spaces in hall for all first-year undergraduates who want them.
It has also opened its first new building for more than 40 years, the Saw Swee Hock Student Centre (SAW), last January. SAW, which is the Royal Institute of British Architects’ London Building of the Year, houses the students’ union, as well as the careers and accommodation services and a multifaith prayer centre.
Now the school is spending £90m on Global Centre for Social Sciences, which will involve the redevelopment of a number of existing buildings. It had already improved and extended the teaching space considerably in 2008.
The LSE (which ranks fifth this year) has been seldom out of the top three in our league table; it had 12 applicants to the place in 2013 – more than any other university in the UK. The
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addition of extra teaching space is allowing the LSE to increase the number of undergraduate places over a four-year period, but will remain highly selective.Areas of study range more broadly than the School’s name suggests: the 250 undergraduate courses range as far as law, management, mathematics and environmental policy. Two new degrees are introduced in 2015: a four-year BSc in philosophy, politics and economics (PPE) and a three-year BSc in politics and international relations.
Only Oxbridge recorded higher average scores than the LSE in the last Research Assessment Exercise, which saw almost 70% of the school’s submission rated world-leading or internationally excellent; at subject level 95% of the economics submission, 80% in social policy and 75% in law reached the top two categories.
The tradition lives on, not only among the academics, but in a students’ union which claims to be the only one in Britain to hold weekly general meetings at which every student may attend and vote.
The campus has a cosmopolitan feel that derives from the highest proportion of overseas students at any publicly funded university. More than 30 past or present heads of state have either been students at, or taught at, the university, as have 16 Nobel prizewinners in economics, literature and peace – including George Bernard Shaw, Bertrand Russell, Friedrich von Hayek and Amartya Sen. The latest of them was Professor Christopher Pissarides, who shared the prize for economics in 2010.
Graduate prospects are among the best with more than 83% of students gaining professional jobs or going into postgraduate study within six months of leaving – an exceptional record for a social science-led institution. This success earns the LSE our University of the Year award for Graduate Employment.
Its international character not only gives the LSE global prestige but also an unusual degree of financial independence: only a small proportion of its funding comes from government sources.
Almost 30% of the British undergraduates are from independent schools, and just one in five are from working class backgrounds, although both figures are close to the national average for the LSE’s subjects and entry qualifications.
Substantial efforts are being made to attract a broader intake: the school is spending half of its additional fee income on student support and other activities to widen participation – a bigger proportion than any other university. There are even two new £20,000 annual bursaries on offer for students who win places who are asylum seekers or who have been given limited leave to remain in the UK.
The LSE is one of 12 universities selected to deliver the Sutton Trust’s Pathways to Law programme, giving state school students from non-privileged backgrounds the opportunity to sample a specialised legal programme before choosing a degree.
The LSE’s projected dropout rate of less than 4% is among the lowest at any university.
The £30m Norman Foster-designed redevelopment of the Lionel Robbins Building houses a much-improved library. The move was a welcome one since the number of books borrowed by LSE students is more than four times the national average, according to one survey.
Routes between most of the buildings have been pedestrianised, in keeping with a commitment to green issues that has seen the School in the top echelons of the People and Planet Green League of universities’ environmental performance for five years in a row.
Partying is not the prime attraction of the LSE for most applicants, who tend to be serious about their subject, but London’s top nightspots are on the doorstep for those who can afford them.
The 3,900 residential places for 9,500 full-time students offer a good chance of avoiding central London’s notoriously high private-sector rents; there are spaces in hall for all first-year undergraduates who want them.
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Detailed Statistics
PERFORMANCE
PERFORMANCE
CATEGORY
SCORE
RANK
Ranking
-
5 (3)
Student experience
78.3
108th=
Research quality
38.7
3rd
Ucas entry points
537
4th
Graduate prospects
83.4
5th
Firsts and 2:1s
79.3
17th
Completion rate
96.3
6th
Student-staff ratio
11.8:1
9th=
Services/facilities spend (£)
2,381
10th
World ranking
-
71= (68)
VITAL STATISTICS
Undergraduates
(Full-time)
3,900
Undergraduates
(Part-time)
70
Postgraduates
(Full-time)
5,390
Postgraduates
(Part-time)
585
Applications/places
17,305/1,430
Applications/places ratio
12.1:1
STUDENT CITIES
Nona Buckley-Irvine, students’ union officer
Your first week is incredible and an information overload, it will set the tone for the rest of your time here.
Looking after yourself, paying bills, studying and meeting people can get on top of you but this craziness has to be the best feature as well.
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Cost of living
Nightlife
Transport
Culture
ACCOMMODATION
Places in accommodation
3,740
Accommodation costs
£92-£489
Catered costs
£101-£221
Accommodation contact
FEES
UK/EU fees
£9,000
Fees (overseas year)
£1,350
Fees (international)
£16,392
Finance website
Graduate salaries
£27,966
BURSARIES/SCHOLARSHIPS
>
For UK students, annual bursary of £4,000 for those with household income below £18K decreasing in 5 bands to £750 for household income £40K–£42.6K.
>
Range of specific scholarships available.
SPORT
Sports points/rank
480, 64th
Sport website
Student satisfaction
83.3%
80.8%
80.5%
78.9%
78.5%
78.3%
75.7%
74.9%
70.2%