University College London

University College London was founded in 1826 and was the first university institution in England to admit students regardless of religion, and among the first to admit women on equal terms. It is a constituent part of the federal University of London and one of its largest members.

Its subject range is genuinely broad — architecture, education, law, medicine, engineering, economics, archaeology and the arts all sit within the same institution — which makes interdisciplinary study more practical here than at a specialist university.

The main site is in Bloomsbury in central London, with specialist institutes and hospitals distributed nearby and a newer campus in east London.

Requirements are set by department and vary widely across a large portfolio.

• Class 12 or equivalent results at the level the specific programme states, with subject prerequisites where the course requires them.
• A recognised bachelor's degree at the classification the department requires for master's entry, with relevant subject content.
• English proficiency at one of several levels — UCL bands its requirement, and the band depends on the programme.
• A personal statement, and academic references for postgraduate applications.
• Admissions tests, portfolios or interviews for medicine, architecture, fine art and certain other programmes.

UCL is a large multi-faculty university, so its fees span a wide range depending on which faculty your programme sits in.

• Set per programme, with international rates differing substantially from home rates.
• A wide spread by subject — arts and humanities at the lower end, laboratory sciences, medicine and some management programmes considerably higher.
• Fees usually fixed for the duration at your entry-year rate for international students.
• Programme-specific additional costs where fieldwork, studio or materials are involved.
• A published London maintenance figure that visa applicants must show, which is higher than the rest of the UK.

Work from UCL's prospectus entry for your specific programme for your specific programme and year of entry — it is the only figure that will be correct for you, and it is republished every year. We will confirm the current cost and what it includes before you commit to an application.

UCL's scholarships are spread across a central set of awards and a large number of departmental ones, and the departmental awards are consistently the less crowded route. Doctoral funding runs largely through research studentships attached to projects and supervisors.

• Central university awards — open across faculties, and the most heavily applied for.
• Departmental awards — subject-specific and materially less competitive.
• Research studentships — attached to a project and a supervisor rather than advertised as scholarships.
• Jointly funded awards — administered with external partners on their own timetables.

Most awards require you to hold an offer before you can apply, and the rounds close early. Applying late for the course usually means the scholarship window has already shut.

A Bloomsbury campus in central London, spread across streets and squares rather than enclosed, so the university and the city run into each other.

• Bloomsbury puts you among the British Museum, the British Library and several other University of London institutions.
• Very large and very international — one of the most internationally diverse student bodies in the UK, which shapes the culture.
• A large students' union with an extensive club and society list, plus sport across many levels.
• Strong museum, library and cultural access, much of it free and within walking distance.
• First-year accommodation for most who apply on time, then private housing — commonly shared flats further out along a tube line.

The scale is worth knowing about. UCL is big enough that finding your community takes deliberate effort — societies and your department are how most students do it.