History
UCL was founded in 1826 to open up higher education in England to those who had been excluded from it. It was the first university in England to welcome students of any religion or social background, and the first in England to welcome women to university education. This challenge to the norm and commitment to a fairer society was considered deeply unconventional by contemporary commentators.
Education
UCL is widely regarded as an academic powerhouse, appearing in the top 20 in a range of worldwide rankings. UCL is 9th in the world in the QS World University Rankings 2024, and , The Times and The Sunday Times University of the Year 2024.
There are more than 700 graduate research and taught degree programmes available, as well as teacher training courses in a wide range of academic areas.
UCL's vision is to transform the way that the world is understood, how knowledge is created and how problems are solved.
Research
At the very heart of UCL's mission is our research. The university was rated second in the UK for research power in the last “Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021).”
UCL’s researchers are continually making an impact on the world we live in; creating headlines across subject areas, locally in the UK and across the globe. UCL's research-based teaching methodology means that research is integrated into many of our degrees and students have the opportunity to make an original contribution to their field of study.
Career
Employability matters. Stand out in a competitive job market with a graduate degree from University College London, the 9th best university on the planet. UCL provides a world-class education and world-class employment opportunities.
Get bespoke career support, join industry networks, and develop the cultural fluency and global outlook that are prized in today’s job market.
Short Courses
- Certificate Advanced Endodontics
- Certificate Applied Renal Physiology
- Certificate Cardiorespiratory Physiotherapy Skills
- Certificate Conscious Sedation for Dental Nurses
- Certificate Counselling for Hearing Healthcare Professionals
- Certificate Culture, Health and Wellbeing - An Introduction
- Certificate Deaf Awareness - Online Training for Doctors
- Certificate Deaf Awareness - Online Training for Nurses
- Certificate Dental Hypnosis and Hypnotic Communication
- Certificate Dental Microscopy - Endodontics
- Certificate Dental Microscopy - Restorative Dentistry
- Certificate Devices and MRI Compatibility
- Certificate Digital Dental Photography
- Certificate Disability and Development
- Certificate Essentials of Global Child Health
- Certificate Fellowship in Laser Dentistry
- Certificate Fundamentals of Paediatric Physiotherapy
- Certificate Health Policy and Practice
- Certificate Health Ventures, Enterprises and Start-ups
- Certificate Implant Dentistry - Implant Overdentures
- Certificate Implant Dentistry - Maxillary Sinus Augmentation
- Certificate Implant Dentistry Diploma - Study Club
- Certificate Implant Dentistry for Dental Nurses
- Certificate Infectious and Global Nephrology
- Certificate International Hepatology Ultrasound Course
- Certificate Introduction to Digital Dentistry
- Certificate Introduction to Hospital Episode Statistics
- Certificate Introduction to Regenerative Dentistry
- Certificate Laser Dentistry - An Introduction
- Certificate Leading Change in Healthcare
- Certificate Leading and Managing Health Innovation
- Certificate Medical Emergencies in Eating Disorders (MEED)
- Certificate Motor Control in Life, Health and Disease
- Certificate Nature and Healthcare Design
- Certificate Paediatric Cardiorespiratory Physiotherapy
- Certificate Paediatric Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy
- Certificate Paediatric Neuro Physiotherapy
- Certificate Performing Arts Medicine (PAM) Day
- Certificate Periodontology - Masterclass in Periodontics
- Certificate Perioperative Medicine in Action
- Certificate Pharmaceutical Quality and Regulatory Affairs
- Certificate Practical Local Anaesthesia in Dentistry
- Certificate Qualitative Research Methods in Health
- Certificate Remote Research Methods In Health
- Certificate Removable Prosthodontics - Complete Dentures
- Certificate Removable Prosthodontics - Partial Dentures
- Certificate Renal Dialysis
- Certificate Renal Transplantation
- Certificate Respiration Through Life, Health and Disease
- Certificate Restorative Dentistry - a CAD and CAM Update
- Certificate Return to Dentistry
- Certificate Rhinoplasty and Facial Plastic Surgery
- Certificate Soft Tissue Management for Dental Implants
- Certificate Sports Dentistry - an Introduction
- Certificate Surgical Approach to Rhinosinusitis
- Certificate The Heart Through Life, Health and Disease
- Certificate The Professional Assistant in Anaesthesia
- Certificate The Professional Surgical First Assistant
- Certificate Urban Health
- Certificate Value-Based Healthcare
- Certificate Advanced Audiological Management
- Certificate Anthropology of Home
- Certificate Anthropology of Social Media - Why We Post
- Certificate Architecture for Mental Health
- Certificate Audiology Taster
- Certificate Auditory Processing Disorders
- Certificate Crime Analysis
- Certificate Deaf Awareness - Online Training for Doctors
- Certificate Deaf Awareness - Online Training for Nurses
- Certificate Deaf Awareness - Online Training for Teachers
- Certificate Dutch Online Courses (with Personal Tutor)
- Certificate Experiments in Ethnographic and Documentary Film
- Certificate French Evening Language Classes (All Levels)
- Certificate German Evening Language Classes (All Levels)
- Certificate Global Prosperity Beyond GDP
- Certificate Greek Evening Language Classes (All Levels)
- Certificate Health Policy and Practice
- Certificate Icelandic Evening Language Classes (All Levels)
- Certificate Italian Evening Language Classes (All Levels)
- Certificate Japanese Evening Language Classes (All Levels)
- Certificate Leveraging Technology for Social Care
- Certificate Making Babies in the 21st Century
- Certificate Management Skills for Police Leaders
- Certificate Mandarin Evening Language Classes (All Levels)
- Certificate Medical Emergencies in Eating Disorders (MEED)
- Certificate Politics and Poetics of Archival Filmmaking
- Certificate Spanish Evening Language Classes (All Levels)
- Certificate The Many Faces of Dementia
- Short Course Understanding and Preventing Crime
- Certificate Visual Anthropology and the City
- Certificate Accessible Theatre - Audio Description
- Certificate An Introduction To Spatial Audio
- Certificate An Introduction to Soundscape Composition
- Certificate Cinema of the Margins
- Certificate Civic Design
- Certificate Colour for Painters (Advanced Evening Course)
- Certificate Colour for Painters (Evening Course)
- Certificate Contract Drafting Skills Workshop
- Certificate Documentary Editing - An Introduction
- Certificate Documentary Filmmaking - From Idea to Reality
- Certificate Documentary Pitching - An Introduction
- Certificate Documentary Storytelling
- Certificate Documentary as Encounter
- Certificate Drawing (Afternoon or Evening Course)
- Certificate Drawing (Saturday or Sunday Course)
- Certificate Drawing (Summer School Short Course)
- Certificate Etching (Summer School Short Course)
- Certificate Experiments in Ethnographic and Documentary Film
- Certificate From Drawing to Painting (Saturday Course)
- Certificate From Print to Paint (Morning Course)
- Certificate Healthy Urbanism
- Certificate Interaction of Colour (Easter Course)
- Certificate Life Drawing (Summer School Short Course)
- Certificate Life Drawing Masterclass (Evening Course)
- Certificate Life Painting (Easter Course)
- Certificate Life Painting (Summer School Short Course)
- Certificate Life Painting - Single Pose (Evening Course)
- Certificate Militant Cinema and Activist Film
- Certificate Nature and Healthcare Design
- Certificate Painting (Evening Course)
- Certificate Painting (Saturday or Sunday Course)
- Certificate Painting (Summer School Short Course)
- Certificate Painting - Developing Practice (Easter Course)
- Certificate Painting - Developing Practice (Evening Course)
- Certificate Painting - Developing Practice (Sunday Course)
- Certificate Personal Filmmaking - Reframed
- Certificate Photo Etching (Summer School Short Course)
- Certificate Pigment to Paint (Easter Course)
- Certificate Politics and Poetics of Archival Filmmaking
- Certificate Portrait - Single Pose (Afternoon Course)
- Certificate Practical Documentary Filmmaking
- Certificate Shooting Documentary - an Introduction
- Certificate Software for Network Services and Design
- Certificate Sound Recording for Documentary Film
- Certificate Summer Film School (Documentary Filmmaking)
- Certificate ANOVA - General Linear Models (GLMs) with SPSS
- Certificate Advances in Auditory Implants
- Certificate Applied Renal Physiology
- Certificate Chi-square and Beyond for 2x2 Tables
- Certificate Infectious and Global Nephrology
- Certificate International Hepatology Ultrasound Course
- Certificate Introduction to Astronomy
- Certificate Introduction to Bayesian Analysis (Online)
- Certificate Introduction to Hospital Episode Statistics
- Certificate Introduction to Meta-analysis
- Certificate Introduction to Regression Analysis
- Certificate Introduction to Research Methods and Statistics
- Certificate Introduction to SPSS
- Certificate Key Ideas in Mentoring Mathematics Teachers
- Certificate Lab Techniques in Mammalian Cell Biology
- Certificate Paediatric Neuro Physiotherapy
- Certificate Photonic Sub-Systems
- Certificate Practical A Level Physics for Technicians
- Certificate Remote Research Methods In Health
- Certificate SPSS - an Introduction (Evening Course)
- Certificate Stata - an Introduction
- Certificate Stata - an Introduction (Evening Course)
- Certificate Systematic Review Synthesis Methods (Online)
- Certificate Bayesian Analysis - an Introduction
- Certificate Broadband Technologies and Components
- Certificate Cloud Data Centres and Edge Computing
- Certificate Data Acquisition and Processing Systems
- Certificate Data Analysis using MATLAB - an Introduction
- Certificate Deep Learning for Natural Language Processing
- Certificate Introduction to Bayesian Analysis (Online)
- Certificate Introduction to Dealing with Missing Data
- Certificate Introduction to Meta-analysis
- Certificate Introduction to Quantum Computing
- Certificate Introduction to R
- Certificate Introduction to R (Online)
- Certificate Introduction to Regression Analysis
- Certificate Network and Services Management
- Certificate Optical Transmission Networks
- Certificate R - Further Topics
- Certificate R - an Introduction (Evening Course)
- Certificate Regressions with R - an Overview
- Certificate Software for Network Services and Design
- Certificate Systems Thinking
- Certificate Ancient Philosophy Summer School
- Certificate Artemisia in Fiction and Fact
- Certificate Crafting Project Narratives
- Certificate English Grammar for Teachers (Online Course)
- Certificate English Phonetics Virtual Summer School
- Certificate English Pronunciation - a Contemporary Approach
- Certificate French Evening Language Classes (All Levels)
- Certificate German Evening Language Classes (All Levels)
- Certificate Greek Evening Language Classes (All Levels)
- Certificate Icelandic Evening Language Classes (All Levels)
- Certificate Icelandic Evening Language Classes (All Levels)
- Certificate Italian Evening Language Classes (All Levels)
- Certificate London Classics Summer School - Greek and Latin
- Certificate Mandarin Evening Language Classes (All Levels)
- Certificate Poisson Regression - an Introduction
- Certificate Research Ethics and Regulation
- Certificate Slade Summer School
- Certificate Subtitling (Advanced)
- Certificate Subtitling - an Introduction
- Certificate UCL Summer School
- Certificate Becoming Research Active Online
- Certificate Blended and Online Learning Design
- Certificate Blockchain Executive Education
- Certificate Community Based Research - Getting Started
- Certificate Deaf Awareness - Online Training for Teachers
- Certificate English Grammar for Teachers (Online Course)
- Certificate Introduction to Research Methods and Statistics
- Certificate Key Ideas in Mentoring Mathematics Teachers
- Certificate Pronunciation Teaching for EFL
- Certificate Writing and Publishing Qualitative Research
- Certificate APM Project Management Qualification (PMQ)
- Certificate Becoming a Project Leader
- Certificate Contracts - an Introduction
- Certificate Critical Appraisal
- Certificate Critical Appraisal (Online, Self Paced)
- Short Course Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice
- Certificate Health Ventures, Enterprises and Start-ups
- Certificate Introduction to Logistic Regression
- Certificate Leading Change in Healthcare
- Certificate Leading and Managing Health Innovation
- Certificate Management Skills for Police Leaders
- Certificate Navigating the Business Sustainability Agenda
- Certificate Qualitative Research Methods in Health
- Short Course Responsible Innovation for Industry Professionals
- Short Course Responsible Innovation for Research
- Certificate Strategic Leadership for Healthcare
- Certificate The Art of Industry - Festivals and Distribution
- Certificate Advances in Auditory Implants
- Certificate Antennas and Propagation
- Certificate Assessing Measurement Reliability and Validity
- Certificate Bartlett DPU summerLab
- Certificate Communications Systems Modelling
- Certificate Devices and MRI Compatibility
- Certificate Homer Summer School
- Certificate Mobile Communications Systems
- Certificate Optical Transmission Networks
- Certificate Photonic Devices (Advanced)
- Certificate Radar Systems (Electronic Engineering)
- Certificate Radio Frequency Circuits and Devices
- Certificate Slade Summer School
- Certificate Telecommunications Business Environment
- Certificate Telecommunications Networks - an Introduction
- Certificate UCL Summer School
- Certificate Wireless Communications Principles
- Certificate Anthropology of Social Media - Why We Post
- Certificate Collage into Mixed Media (Easter Course)
- Certificate Dubbing - an Introduction for Translators
- Certificate Internet Multimedia Systems
- Certificate Making Radio Documentary
- Certificate MemoQ (for Translators)
- Certificate Project Management for Translators
- Certificate Trados Studio - an Introduction
- Certificate Transcreation
- Certificate Videogame Localisation
- Certificate Website Localisation in the Translation Industry
- Certificate Writing and Publishing Qualitative Research
- Certificate Drafting 'Legal' Clauses in Commercial Contracts
- Certificate Neighbourhood Analysis - Crime and Security
- Certificate Leveraging Technology for Social Care
- Certificate Clinical Exercise and Physical Activity
- Certificate Sports Dentistry - an Introduction
University Ranking
Student services
- UCL is proudly committed to ensuring that all of its students have access to the best support and welfare services they need for academic success, personal growth and development. The Student Enquiries Centre offers free walk-in guidance across a number of issues, from health and wellbeing to finance and funding. Tutors and research supervisors are also able to provide academic support as well as friendly advice and encouragement. Student Support and Wellbeing (SSW) offer personal services including:
- Drop-in sessions and counselling for mental health and wellbeing
- Specialist information for international students
- Disability or long-term health condition support
- NHS health centre
Housing services
UCL Accommodation offers a range of room types, with halls conveniently located in central London. We offer postgraduate halls and have limited family accommodation for students that would like to live with partner, family or children. We also work with private providers and partners to signpost alternative accommodation options for students that choose to live outside of halls.
The fees you pay vary depending on location and facilities. However, all accommodation fees include a furnished room rental and:
- Use of communal areas
- Maintenance within your Hall
- Cleaning of shared bathrooms, kitchens and communal areas
- Utility charges, including Wi-Fi
- Basic contents insurance; and 24/7 support
Library services
There are 15 specialist libraries with more than two million books, 12,000 journal subscriptions, archives, rare materials, significant manuscripts and many other resources. The university also holds globally important museum collections, artworks, objects, specimens and images.
Campus life
UCL sits at the heart of one of the most dynamic cities in the world and is committed to being a global leader in knowledge exchange, enterprise and open innovation.
UCL's historic campus is in Bloomsbury, central London, with the main Quad on Gower Street. We are continually creating new world-class facilities in our Bloomsbury campus – both through new developments and refurbishing some of our buildings that are rich in heritage.
In addition, in the largest single expansion since UCL was founded nearly 200 years ago, UCL East (at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Stratford) has now joined our Bloomsbury campus in discovering, co-creating and sharing new knowledge for the benefit of all.Sports facilities
UCL offers plenty of opportunities to take part in team sports or just to keep fit and have fun.
- Students' Union UCL runs around 60 sports and dance clubs, ranging from boxing and badminton to karate and capoeira!
- The Union also runs Bloomsbury Fitness, a well-equipped health and fitness club located just next door to the main campus in Bloomsbury.
- The UCL Sports Grounds in Shenley, Hertfordshire, include full-size football pitches, all-weather netball and tennis courts, plus a pavilion. A free bus service runs to the sports grounds on match days and for training.
- Other nearby facilities include Student Central, open to all University of London students including UCL students.
Student clubs
Student union
UCL Students’ Union helps all members of the student community make the most of their time at university. It hosts more than 360 clubs and societies and is home to several bars, shops and cafes. The students’ union strives to improve the lives of all UCL students by representing and advising them, offering support, fostering connections and organising activities and events. It is managed by elected officers who act as the student's voice. Union officers work hard to improve the way the university is run. The Postgraduate Students’ Association is dedicated to graduate students, providing them with many services such as social amenities and sports facilities.
- Ranked 9th in the World in the QS World University Rankings 2024 The Times and The Sunday Times University of the Year 2024 30 Nobel Prize laureates among current or former staff and students Second in the UK for research power in the Research Excellence Framework 2021 (REF) Leading position in third Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF) In the Teaching Excellence Framework 2023 (TEF) UCL was awarded Gold for Student Outcomes, Silver for Student Experience, with an overall rating of Silver.
- Top-performing university in the initial year of Horizon 2020, the EU funding scheme (Research Professional)
- Four UCL academics awarded European Research Council Starting Grants in 2022, awarding €6 million to UCL projects.