Always one of the big names of British higher education, the LSE is in the top four social science institutions in the world, according to the Times Higher Education/QS global rankings.

With more than 14 applications for every place, this is reflected in more competition for admission than at any UK university. Only Oxford, Cambridge and Imperial College London have higher average entry grades

The school has added 1,000 places in recent years – mostly on postgraduate courses - having seized the chance to tackle a longstanding shortage of teaching space by acquiring former Government buildings near the school’s Aldwych headquarters.

Sir Howard Davies, the Director, has built on the progress made by his predecessor, Professor Anthony Giddens, the academic face of Tony Blair’s Third Way, who brought in a number of big names arrived from other top universities.

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Cosmopolitan

The school has a cosmopolitan feel that derives from the highest proportion of overseas students at any publicly funded university. Due to national funding restrictions, only a relatively small proportion of the extra places have been for UK undergraduates.

The LSE has produced 29 heads of state and 13 Nobel prizewinners in economics, literature and peace – including George Bernard Shaw, Bertrand Russell, Friedrich von Hayek and Amartya Sen. The nationals of more than 150 countries take up half of the places. At the undergraduate level, only the much larger Manchester University has more applications from overseas. Its international character not only gives the LSE global prestige but also an unusual degree of financial independence. Less than a fifth of its income is from the Higher Education Funding Council.

Access

More than a third of British undergraduates are from independent schools – one of the highest ratios in the country and much higher than the funding council’s benchmark figure. Efforts are being made to attract a broader intake with Saturday classes and summer schools. The projected dropout rate of 3 per cent is among the lowest at any university and applications have been steady – there had been a 3 per cent increase at the official deadline for courses beginning in 2009. However, average scores in the National Student Survey published in 2008 were the lowest of any pre-1992 university. Only in law and accounting were 80 per cent of final-year undergraduates satisfied overall with their courses.

Subjects

Areas of study range more broadly than the name suggests: law, management and history are all on the curriculum and there is even a small contingent of scientists. Only Cambridge recorded higher average scores than the LSE in the 2008 research assessments, which saw almost 70 per cent of the work submitted rated world-leading or internationally excellent. Ninety-five per cent of the economics submission, 80 per cent in social policy and 75 per cent in law reached the top two categories.

The LSE does not hide its light under a bushel: it describes itself as “the world’s leading social science institution for teaching and research”. A pan-European survey also showed the school’s students to be more active in student associations, more entrepreneurial and more open to opportunities to work abroad than those at other leading universities. The students’ union claims to be the only one in Britain to hold weekly general meetings at which every student may attend and vote, while the 120 student societies cover an unusually wide range of interests.

Development

Improvements were being made to the campus long before the opportunity arose to expand. A £30-million Norman Foster-designed redevelopment of the Lionel Robbins Building now 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 a recent survey. Routes between most of the buildings have been pedestrianised and a new student services centre has opened.

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 3,650 residential places for 8,500 full-time students offer a good chance of avoiding central London’s notoriously high private sector rents.

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