One of the oldest and largest of London University’s colleges, King’s has been cementing its reputation among the elite of British higher education.

Sixty per cent of the work submitted to the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise was judged to be world-leading or internationally excellent, with cardiovascular medicine, dentistry, nutritional sciences, philosophy, languages and the Centre for Computing in the Humanities among the leaders in their fields.

The results followed another rise in the world rankings published by Times Higher Education and QS, leaving the college just outside the top 20.

King’s is now concentrated on four main campuses close to the Thames. Most departments are within walking distance of each other, on the original Strand site or the Waterloo campus, with medicine, dentistry and biomedical and health sciences based not far away at Guy’s Hospital, near London Bridge, and in the St Thomas’ Hospital campus, across the river from the Houses of Parliament. A fifth site, at Denmark Hill, in south London, houses the Institute of Psychiatry and more medicine and dentistry.

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Popularity

Students seem to like the outcome: King’s did well in the National Student Survey published in 2008 and was in the leading group of institutions in London. The most satisfied students were in classics, law and music. An institutional audit by the Quality Assurance Agency gave King’s the highest mark, stressing the excellence of the student support services. Applications have been steady, with 5 per cent growth at the start of 2009. There are now 13,000 undergraduates and 6,200 graduate students in nine schools of study.

Medical subjects have been the main growth point, with King’s boasting five Medical Research Council centres – more than any other university. Among the medical courses are successful programmes catering for mature students and school-leavers who have attended London comprehensives with generally poor A level results.

Development

A £500-million transformation of the college estate is still in progress. Biomedical and health sciences students occupy the largest university building in London, near Waterloo Station, and share purpose-built facilities on the Guy’s Campus with medicine and dentistry. There is to be further development of the St Thomas’ site for medical education and hospital use following the opening of the new and ground-breaking Evelina Children’s Hospital.

Another property deal has created the largest new university library in Britain since World War II at the former Public Record Office in Chancery Lane. A donation of £4 million by a graduate has underwritten the spectacular Maughan Library with 1,400 networked reader places. A £40-million redevelopment of the Grade 1 listed King’s Building has provided new teaching facilities, wireless internet access, social and catering facilities.

Once known primarily for science, King’s now excels in a wide range of subjects in nine schools of study, including such unusual features as Britain’s only department devoted entirely to Portuguese – one of four language departments rated internationally outstanding in the latest research assessments. War studies is another unusual and well-regarded department.

Clinical psychology, nursing, midwifery, health visiting and physiotherapy did well in a major review in 2005. A new clinical research facility at St Thomas’ Hospital allows researchers at King’s and clinical staff at the hospital to undertake multi-disciplinary research focusing on nutrition, obesity and cardiovascular health.

Ambitions

King’s was one of the two founding colleges of London University, and the full extent of the college’s ambitions is clear from its mission statement, which includes having all its departments rated as excellent for both teaching and research. King’s is also a solid bet for a good degree for those who satisfy its demanding entry requirements, with over 70 per cent reaching the first or 2:1 classification.

More than a quarter of the undergraduates come from independent schools. Every student is allocated a personal tutor, and much of the teaching is in small groups. Student facilities on the Strand and Guy’s campuses have been upgraded recently. There are 2,654 residential places, and the college also has access to 511 places in the intercollegiate halls of London University. Some of the outdoor sports facilities are a long way from the college, but are accessible by train.

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