Gower Street
London WC1E 6BT

Tel 020 7679 3000

study@ucl.ac.uk

www.ucl.ac.uk

Sunday Times ranking 5 (5)

Teaching excellence 77.4%

Student satisfaction 73.8%

Head teacher ranking 10 (8)

Peer ranking 6 (4)

Research quality 77.8%

A/AS-levels points 442

A-levels for entry 77.8%

Unemployment 3.4%

Firsts and 2:1s 73%

Student/staff ratio 8.8:1

Dropout rate 6% (7%)

World ranking 25

Undergraduates 11,381 (587)

Postgraduates 6,679 (2,973)

Teaching staff 1,784

Applications/places 28,870/3,304; 8.7:1 (+8.4%)

Clearing entry 2%

Bursaries 35%: £25-£2,600

Scholarships Various: Variable: £300-£15,000

EU/overseas 8.2%/23%

Mature 10.5%

State school 62%

Lowest social classes 18%

Low-participation areas 6%

Live in 31% (100%) £83-£139

UCL sets out its stall on the opening page of its prospectus in no uncertain terms: “Your UCL degree will provide a global perspective aimed at helping you identify, and potentially contribute to solutions for, problems and issues affecting the global community.” For most, this sounds daunting, for some, a challenging proposition. It is the latter group from which UCL recruits.

Another description the college affords itself is “London’s global university”, and with a third of the intake drawn from overseas there is no disputing the cosmopolitan nature of the student body.

From this month, UCL will award its own degrees rather than those of the University of London, but the college will remain under the UL umbrella.

When they are not being distracted by all London has to offer, students will find themselves taught by some of the leading experts in their fields. University College London’s teaching excellence is detailed below; only Cambridge and Manchester have earned more top ratings. No fewer than 58 academic departments gained the top international-class ratings in the 2001 research assessments and there is every prospect of similar success next year.

Only Oxbridge can seriously rival UCL’s multifaculty research record.

Institutes for global health, healthy ageing and behavioural neurosciences are being established. This month will see the opening of the UCL cancer institute, which will bring together hundreds of the world’s leading oncology experts under one roof.

Additionally, the college is developing a programme in global citzenship and leadership to be integrated into all undergraduate programmes.

Open days Contact the university.

Student view Sean Clothier, students’ union officer:

USP Our small campus, surrounded by real London life.

Worst feature It’s expensive in London, which means you can take advantage of the students’ union.

Location The West End and Camden are a few minutes away.

Social scene Very scattered; there are always loads of options.

Rated excellent (31) Allied health professions (audiology, speech sciences); anatomy and physiology; anthropology; archeology; architecture; art and design; classics and ancient history; dentistry; Dutch; economics; economics (School of Slavonic and Eastern European Studies – SSEES); electrical and electronic engineering; English; geography; geology; German and related languages; history; history of art, architecture and design; law; librarianship and information management; linguistics; maths, statistics and operational research; medicine (Institute of Child Health/Institute of Ophthalmology); molecular biosciences; organismal biosciences; philosophy; physics and astronomy; politics; politics (SSEES); psychology; Scandinavian studies.

Degree of student satisfaction 73.8%

Other Languages and Area studies 83.1; English-based studies 82.1; Sociology, Social Policy and Anthropology 80.3; Human and Social Geography 79.6; Medical Science and Pharmacy 78.4; Psychology 77.5; Physical Science 77.2; Mathematical Sciences 75.6; History and Archeology 74.7; European Languages and Area studies 74.5; Biology and related Sciences 74.3; Architecture, Building and Planning 73.1; Law 72.6; Computer Science 71.5; Medicine and Dentistry 70.0; Civil, Chemical and other Engineering 69.9; Economics 69.7; Management 68.4; Philosophy, Theology and Religious studies 67.3; Mechanically-based Engineering 62.4

Times recommends

• Graduates face debt and bleak job hunt
• Student of the Year Awards 2008 featuring Kelly Rowland
• Student bursary system 'penalises' the poor