TEACHING
QUALITY
University College London
9
th
NATIONAL
RANK
RANK
86.7%
FIRSTS
2:1s
2:1s
93.6%
COMPLETION
RATE
RATE
Key Stats
n/a
101st
STUDENT
EXPERIENCE
EXPERIENCE
4th=
RESEARCH
QUALITY
QUALITY
7th=
GRADUATE
PROSPECTS
PROSPECTS
Contact details
ADDRESS
Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT View on map >
Telephone
Email
Website
Open days
contact the university
University Profile
Thirteen hundred students are studying today at University College London (UCL) who might not have been otherwise, thanks to the government’s relaxation of rules relating to the recruitment of the brightest students.
More than any other university in the UK, UCL has taken advantage of the rule change having both the space and the staff numbers to cope with an influx of undergraduates that has grown by one third since 2012.
With more and more well-qualified students wanting a place here, an additional 800 students were recruited in 2012 (despite overall retrenchment across higher education with the introduction of £9,000 tuition fees) and then 500 more on top of that last year – all without having to reduce entry requirements.
It was already comfortably the largest of the University of London’s colleges, with 26,000 students and more than 700 professors – the largest number in Britain. UCL includes several specialist schools and institutes, and will add the Institute of Education when a merger is finalised at the end of 2014.
The clamour for places is understandable for a university that
All first-year students are helped to make the academic and social adjustment to university life through the Transition Programme, which includes a variety of activities such as peer mentoring and workshops.
There is a commitment to teaching in small groups, especially in the second and subsequent years of degree courses. Although not high, the projected dropout rate of 6.4% this year has risen above the benchmark set for entrance requirements and grades.
UCL is conscious of its traditions as a college founded to expand access to higher education, but the 34% share of places going to independent school students is one of the highest in Britain. The national average for privately-schooled entrants in an institution like UCL is closer to 25%. About one undergraduate in fivehas a working-class background, which is much closer to the national average for an institution of UCL’s course and student profile.
Concerted attempts are being made to broaden the intake with summer schools for state-school students, outreach activities and campus-based programmes. The focus is mainly but not exclusively on schools in London and the South East. UCL sponsors an academy as part of its contribution to the local community.
UCL’s excellence is built on a history of pioneering subjects that have become commonplace in higher education: modern languages, geography and fine arts among them.
At £135m, UCL won the largest amount of funding from the UK research councils of any university in 2013. In the last Research Assessment Exercise, two-thirds of its submission was judged to be world-leading or internationally excellent.
The medical school, with 11 associated teaching hospitals, is a large and formidable unit. Its credentials were strengthened still further with the announcement that UCL will be a founding partner in the new Francis Crick Institute (formerly UK Centre for Medical Research and Innovation) that will open next year, beside St Pancras railway station. The centre will undertake cutting-edge research to advance understanding of health and disease.
The various acquisitions mean that there are now outposts in several parts of central and north London, including the School of Pharmacy, which joined in 2012. There is also an archaeology and conservation campus in Qatar, but the main activity remains centred on the original impressive Bloomsbury site.
UCL is pioneering the idea of education for global citizenship, ensuring students are given opportunity and encouragement to explore academic ideas from different cultural perspectives and to work on problems of international importance, as well as contributing to their local community and the university’s social and cultural life. A quarter of all undergraduates spend part of their course at one of UCL’s 300 partner universities overseas.
The academic pace can be frantic but, close to the West End and with its own theatre and recreational facilities, there is no shortage of leisure options. Students will also have access to the facilities (including rooftop swimming pool) of the student centre in the former University of London Union building in Bloomsbury.
Residential accommodation is plentiful and of a good standard. Indoor sports and fitness facilities are close at hand, but the main outdoor pitches, though good enough to attract professional football clubs, are a (free) coach ride away in Hertfordshire.
More than any other university in the UK, UCL has taken advantage of the rule change having both the space and the staff numbers to cope with an influx of undergraduates that has grown by one third since 2012.
With more and more well-qualified students wanting a place here, an additional 800 students were recruited in 2012 (despite overall retrenchment across higher education with the introduction of £9,000 tuition fees) and then 500 more on top of that last year – all without having to reduce entry requirements.
It was already comfortably the largest of the University of London’s colleges, with 26,000 students and more than 700 professors – the largest number in Britain. UCL includes several specialist schools and institutes, and will add the Institute of Education when a merger is finalised at the end of 2014.
The clamour for places is understandable for a university that
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ranks in the top five in the world in the QS rankings, which place more emphasis on research, outstripping our domestic ranking where UCL comes in ninth this year, scoring well on all measures, and particularly staffing levels, which are the best in the country.All first-year students are helped to make the academic and social adjustment to university life through the Transition Programme, which includes a variety of activities such as peer mentoring and workshops.
UCL is conscious of its traditions as a college founded to expand access to higher education, but the 34% share of places going to independent school students is one of the highest in Britain. The national average for privately-schooled entrants in an institution like UCL is closer to 25%. About one undergraduate in fivehas a working-class background, which is much closer to the national average for an institution of UCL’s course and student profile.
Concerted attempts are being made to broaden the intake with summer schools for state-school students, outreach activities and campus-based programmes. The focus is mainly but not exclusively on schools in London and the South East. UCL sponsors an academy as part of its contribution to the local community.
UCL’s excellence is built on a history of pioneering subjects that have become commonplace in higher education: modern languages, geography and fine arts among them.
At £135m, UCL won the largest amount of funding from the UK research councils of any university in 2013. In the last Research Assessment Exercise, two-thirds of its submission was judged to be world-leading or internationally excellent.
The medical school, with 11 associated teaching hospitals, is a large and formidable unit. Its credentials were strengthened still further with the announcement that UCL will be a founding partner in the new Francis Crick Institute (formerly UK Centre for Medical Research and Innovation) that will open next year, beside St Pancras railway station. The centre will undertake cutting-edge research to advance understanding of health and disease.
The various acquisitions mean that there are now outposts in several parts of central and north London, including the School of Pharmacy, which joined in 2012. There is also an archaeology and conservation campus in Qatar, but the main activity remains centred on the original impressive Bloomsbury site.
UCL is pioneering the idea of education for global citizenship, ensuring students are given opportunity and encouragement to explore academic ideas from different cultural perspectives and to work on problems of international importance, as well as contributing to their local community and the university’s social and cultural life. A quarter of all undergraduates spend part of their course at one of UCL’s 300 partner universities overseas.
The academic pace can be frantic but, close to the West End and with its own theatre and recreational facilities, there is no shortage of leisure options. Students will also have access to the facilities (including rooftop swimming pool) of the student centre in the former University of London Union building in Bloomsbury.
Residential accommodation is plentiful and of a good standard. Indoor sports and fitness facilities are close at hand, but the main outdoor pitches, though good enough to attract professional football clubs, are a (free) coach ride away in Hertfordshire.
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Detailed Statistics
PERFORMANCE
PERFORMANCE
CATEGORY
SCORE
RANK
Ranking
-
9 (9)
Student experience
79
101st
Research quality
33
4th=
Ucas entry points
521
7th
Graduate prospects
81.8
7th=
Firsts and 2:1s
86.7
4th
Completion rate
93.6
18th
Student-staff ratio
10.2:1
2nd
Services/facilities spend (£)
2,453
6th
World ranking
-
5= (4)
VITAL STATISTICS
Undergraduates
(Full-time)
13,700
Undergraduates
(Part-time)
885
Postgraduates
(Full-time)
8,645
Postgraduates
(Part-time)
3,045
Applications/places
35,985/4,900
Applications/places ratio
7.3:1
STUDENT CITIES
Hannah Sketchley, students’ union officer
Busy and bustling with loads of stuff to do and people to meet or avoid.
Rent in halls is ridiculously high and the university isn’t keen to lower it.
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Cost of living
Nightlife
Transport
Culture
ACCOMMODATION
Places in accommodation
5,201
Accommodation costs
£133-£211
Catered costs
£167-£203
Accommodation contact
FEES
UK/EU fees
£9,000
Fees (overseas year)
£1,350
Fees (international)
£15,200-£20,100
Fees (international, medical)
£29,900
Finance website
Graduate salaries
£24,647
BURSARIES/SCHOLARSHIPS
>
For all UK/EU students with household income below £12K, a bursary of £3,000 a year; household income £12K–£25K, £2,000 a year; £25K–42.6K, £1,000 a year.
>
High-achieving students at London state schools, 20 awards of £4,000 a year. Range of departmental and academic scholarships.
SPORT
Sports points/rank
1241.5, 25th
Sport website
Student satisfaction
89.3%
88.1%
87.0%
87.0%
84.1%
82.3%
82.1%
82.1%
82.0%
81.6%
80.9%
80.7%
80.4%
79.7%
79.6%
79.5%
78.7%
78.1%
77.5%
77.3%
75.6%
75.1%
74.7%
74.2%
72.4%
71.2%
71.1%