The University of London is a cloistered and a federal research university situated in London, England. The university was first incorporated initially by royal charter in the year 1836, which also makes it to be one of three (3) institutions to claim the title of the third (3rd) oldest University in England. The university is presently incorporated by a royal charter granted in the year 1863 and is currently governed by the University of London Act 1994. University of London currently consists of eighteen (18) constituent colleges, nine (9) research institutes and a number of central bodies. The cloistered university houses the oldest teaching hospital in England and was the first to acknowledge women as degree candidates in the United Kingdom and also the first to assign a female as its Vice-Chancellor in the United Kingdom.
About University of London
The University of London is the biggest university in the United Kingdom by total number of registered (both internal and external) from 190+ (more than one hundred and ninety) countries, with over 52,000 (Fifty two thousand) distance learning students in external form and 161,270 (one hundred and sixty one thousand, two hundred and seventy) campus-based internal students, making biggest university by number of full-time candidates in the United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in year 1836, as a degree awarding examination board for students holding certificates from University College London and King’s College London and “such other Institutions, corporate or unincorporated, as shall be established for the purpose of Education, either within the Metropolis or somewhere else within the United Kingdom”. The university stirred to a federal structure in the year 1900. Mainly, constituent colleges rank in the top 50 universities in the United Kingdom and for most practical reasons, varying from admissions to funding; the constituent colleges operate on an independent basis, with some currently obtaining the power to award their own degrees whilst remaining in the federal university. The ten (10) biggest colleges of the university are King’s College London, University College London, Queen Mary, City, Birkbeck, the London School of Economics and Political Science, Royal Holloway, Goldsmiths, SOAS, and St George’s. The specialist colleges of the university include the London Business School, the Royal Veterinary College, and Heythrop College, specializing in philosophy and theology. Imperial College London was formerly a member, before leaving the university a century later in the year 2007. The city is the latest constituent college, having joined on 1st September 2016. As of the year 2015, there are a total of around 2,000,000 (two million) University of London alumni across the world, which include twelve (12) monarchs or royalty, fifty-two (52) presidents or prime ministers, eighty-four (84) Nobel laureates, six (6) Grammy winners, two (2) Oscar winners and three (3) Olympic gold medalists. The collegiate research university has also produced Father of the Nation for several countries, including numerous members of Colonial Service, Ceylon Civil Service, and Imperial Civil Service throughout the British Raj and the British Empire. In post-nominal, the University of London is typically abbreviated as Lond. or, more rarely, Londin., from the Latin Universitas Londinensis, subsequent to its degree abbreviations.
Brief History of University of London
University College London was founded under the name “London University” in the year 1826 as a secular substitute to the religious universities of Oxford and Cambridge. In reply to the theological controversy surrounding such educational institution, KCL – King’s College London was established and was the first to be granted a royal charter in the year 1829. Hitherto receive a royal charter, UCL in the year 1834 renewed its request for a royal charter as a university (which was originally applied for in the year 1830), which would bestow it the power to award degrees. In response to this, opposition to “exclusive” rights grew amongst the London medical schools. The initiative of a general degree awarding body for the schools was discussed in the medical press. And the evidence was taken by the Select Committee on Medical Education. Though, the blocking of a bill to open up Oxford and Cambridge degrees to dissenters led to renewed pressure on the Government to grant degree-awarding powers to an institution that would not apply religious tests, mainly as the degrees of the new University of Durham was also to be closed to non-Anglicans. The university established by the charters of the years 1836 and 1837 was basically an examining board with the right to award degrees in medicine, laws and arts. Though, the university did not have the authority to grant degrees in theology, considered the senior faculty in the other three (3) English universities. In medicine, the university was given the right to determine which medical schools provided sufficient medical training. In arts and law, by distinction, it would examine students from University College London, King’s College or any other school or college granted a royal warrant, successfully giving the government control of which colleges could partner to the university. Beyond the right to submit students for examination, there was no other link between the affiliated colleges and the university. In the year 1849 the university conducted its first graduation ceremony at Somerset House following an appeal to the Senate from the graduates, who had formerly received their degrees without any ceremony. About 250 students graduated during this ceremony. The London academic robes of this time were distinguished by their “rich velvet facings”. The list of allied colleges grew in the year 1858 to include over 50 institutions, including the entire British universities. In that year, a new charter successfully eliminated the affiliated college’s system by opening up the examinations to everyone whether they attended an affiliated college or not. This led the Earl of Kimberley, a member of the university’s senate, to inform the House of Lords in the year 1888 “that there were no Colleges affiliated to the University of London, however, there were some many years ago”. The reforms of the year 1858 also incorporated the graduates of the university into a convocation, similar to those of Oxford, Cambridge, and Durham, and certified the granting of degrees in science, the first BSc being awarded in the year 1860. The prolonged role meant the university needed more space, particularly with the growing number of students at the provincial university colleges. Between the year 1867 and 1870, a new headquarters was built at six (6) Burlington Gardens, providing the university with exam halls and offices. In the year 1863, via a fourth charter, the university gained the right to grant degrees in surgery. This year 1863 charter remains the authority beneath which the university is incorporated, although all its other provisions were eliminated under the year 1898 the University of London Act. The University College London set another first when it became the first university in the United Kingdom to admit women to degrees in year 1878, via the grant of a supplemental charter. Four (4) female students acquire Bachelor of Arts degrees in year 1880 and two others obtained Bachelor of Science degrees in year 1881, again the first in the country. Lately in the 19th century, the university came under criticism for merely serving as a centre for the administration of tests, and there were a lot of calls for “a teaching university” meant for London. University College London and King’s College London considered separating from the university to form a different university, variously known as the Albert University, Gresham University, and Westminster University. Following two (2) royal commissions the University of London Act in the year 1898 was conceded, reforming the university and giving it a federal formation with responsibility for checking course content and academic standards within its institutions. This was implemented in the year 1900 with the approval of new statutes for the university. The reforms instigated by the year 1898 act came into force with the approval of the new federal statutes in the year 1900. A lot of colleges in London became schools of the university, including King’s College, Royal Holloway University College London, Bedford College, and the London School of Economics. Regent’s Park College, which had affiliated in year 1841, became an official divinity school of the university in year 1901 (the new statutes having given London the opportunity to award degrees in theology) and Richmond College followed as a divinity school of the university in year 1902; Goldsmiths College joined in year 1904; Imperial College was founded in year 1907; in the year 1915 Queen Mary College joined; the School of Oriental and African Studies was founded in the year 1916; and Birkbeck College, which was established in year 1823, Birkbeck later joined in year 1920. The preceding provision for colleges outside London was not neglected on federation; instead, London offered two routes to degrees: “domestic” degrees offered by schools of the university and “international” degrees that are obtainable at other colleges (now the University of London flexible and distance learning programs). University College London and King’s College, whose crusade for a teaching university in London had resulted in the university’s reconstitution as a federal institution, went even further than becoming schools of the university and were essentially merged into it. University College London’s merger, under the year 1905 University College London (Transfer) Act, which took place in the year 1907. The charter of the year 1836 was surrendered and all of UCL’s property became the University of London’s. King’s College followed in the year 1910 under the 1908 King’s College London (Transfer) Act. This was a slightly more complex case, as the theological department of the college (founded in the year 1846) did not merge into the university but sustained a separate legal continuation under King’s Colleges in the year 1829 charter. The extension of the university’s role meant that the Burlington Garden premises were inadequate, and in March year 1900 it moved to the Imperial Institute in South Kensington. Though, its continued rapid extension meant that it had outgrown its new premises in year 1920s, requiring yet another move. A great parcel of land in Bloomsbury close to the British Museum was obtained from the Duke of Bedford and Charles Holden was selected architect with the instruction to create a building “not to recommend a passing fashion inappropriate to buildings which will house an institution of so permanent a character as a University.” This strange remit may have been motivated by the fact that William Beveridge, having just become director of LSE, upon asking a taxi driver to take him to the University of London was met with the response “Oh!, you mean the place close to the Royal School of Needlework”. Holden reacted by designing Senate House, the current headquarters of the university, and at the moment in time of completion the second biggest building in London. At the time of the Second World War, the colleges of the university (with the exemption of Birkbeck) and their students left London for safer parts of the United Kingdom, although Senate House was used by the Ministry of Information, with its roof becoming an observation point for the Royal Observer Corps. Though the building was smacked by bombs several times, it emerged from the war largely unscathed; rumor at the time had it that the reason the building had fared so well was that Adolf Hitler had planned to use it as his headquarters then in London. The second half of the last century was less eventful. In the year 1948, Athlone Press was founded as the publishing house for the university, and later sold to the Bemrose Corporation in the year 1979, subsequent to which it was obtained by Continuum publishing. Though, the post-WWII phase was mostly characterized by extension and consolidation within the university, such as the attainment as a constituent body of the Jesuit theological institution Heythrop College on its move from Oxfordshire in the year 1969. The University of London Act saw the university defined as a federation of self-governing colleges in the year 1978, starting the process of the delegation that would lead to a distinct transference of academic and financial power in this period from the fundamental authorities in Senate House to the individual colleges. In the same period, University College London and King’s College recouped their legal independence via acts of parliament and the subjecting of new royal charters. University College London was reincorporating in the year 1977; while King’s College’s new charter in the year 1980 reunited the major body of the college with the corporation formed in the year 1829. Centralized graduation ceremonies at the Royal Albert Hall were substituted by individual ceremonies at the colleges in the year 1992. One of the biggest shifts in power of this period came in 1993, when HEFCE “now the Office for Students, OfS” switch from funding the University of London, which was the allocated money to the colleges, for funding the colleges directly and for them paying a contribution to the university. In the late 20th century, there was also a propensity for smaller colleges to be amalgamated into larger “super-colleges”. Some of the larger colleges (most remarkably University College London, King’s College, LSE, and Imperial) occasionally put forward the possibility of their departure from the university, even though no steps were taken to actually put this into action until the beginning of the 21st century. In the year 2002, Imperial College and University College London mooted the possibility of a merger, raising the question of the future of the University of London and the smaller colleges within it. Subsequently, substantial opposition from the academic staff of both University College London and Imperial led to a rejection of the merger. In spite of this failure, the trend of decentralizing power continued. Considerably, development in this process was the closing down of the Convocation of all the university’s alumni in the month of October 2003; this recognized that private college alumni associations were now progressively more the center of focal point for alumni. Though, the university continued to grow even as it moved to a looser federation, and, in the year 2005, acknowledged the Central School of Speech and Drama. Imperial College became the second constituent body (after Regent’s Park College) to make a formal decision to leave the university on the 9th of December 2005. Its council publicized that it was beginning a dialogue to withdraw from the university in time for its own centenary celebrations, and in order to be able to award its own degrees. On the 5th October 2006, the University of London welcomed Imperial’s formal request to withdraw from it. Imperial became fully independent on the 9th of July 2007, as part of the celebrations of the college’s centenary. The Times Higher Education Supplement publicized in February 2007, that the London School of Economics, University College London, and King’s College London all deliberate to start awarding their own degrees, rather than degrees from the Federal University of London as they had done earlier, from the start of the academic year starting in Autumn 2007. Even though this plan to award their own degrees did not amount to a decision to leave the University of London, the THES recommended that this “raised new doubts about the hope of the federal University of London”. The School of Pharmacy, University of London, merged with University College London on the 1st of January 2012, becoming the UCL School of Pharmacy within the Faculty of Life Sciences. This was followed on the 2nd December 2014 by the Institute of Education also merging with University College London, becoming the University College London’s Institute of Education. Ever since the year 2010, the university has been outsourcing support services such as cleaning and portering. This has encouraged industrial action by the largely Latin American workforce under the “3Cosas” campaign (the 3Cosas – 3 causes being sick pay, holiday pay, and pensions for outsourced workers on parity with staff employed straight by the university). The 3Cosas campaigners were members of the UNISON trade union. Though the documents were disclosed in the year 2014 revealed that UNISON representatives tried to counter the 3Cosas campaign in meetings with university management. The 3Cosas workers then transferred to the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain. Following good results in the Research Excellence Framework in December year 2014, City University London said that they were exploring the possibility of joining the University of London. It was subsequently announced in July 2015 that City would join the University of London in August year 2016. It will cease to be an independent university and then become a college as “City, University of London”.
University of London Campuses
The University of London owns an extensive central London estate 12 hectares of freehold land in Bloomsbury, close to Russell Square tube station. So many of the university’s colleges have their main buildings on the estate. The Bloomsbury Campus also contains eight (8) Halls of Residence and Senate House, which houses Senate House Library, the chancellor’s official residence and previously housed the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, now part of University College London and housed in its own new building. Approximately the whole School of Advanced Study is housed in Senate House and neighboring Stewart House. The university also owns numerous squares that formed part of the Bedford Estate, including Gordon Square, Tavistock Square, Torrington Square, and Woburn Square, as well as numerous properties outside Bloomsbury, with so many of the university’s colleges and institutes occupying their own estates across London:
Clare Market,The North and East Wings of Somerset House, the location for the Courtauld Institute of Art and King’s College London, respectivelyThe Aldwych, where the London School of Economics and Political Science and part of King’s College London are basedSt Bartholomew’s Hospital,The campus of Royal Holloway and Bedford New College including the historic Founder’s Building, andThe University of London Boat Club in Chiswick.
The university also has numerous properties outside London, including a number of residential and catering units further afield and the premises of the University of London Institute in Paris, which offers undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in French / historical studies.
University of London Courses
Courses being offered by the University are as follows: Undergraduate Programme
Business AdministrationCombined Degree SchemeComputer Science (including specialisms)ComputingDivinity, Theology, Philosophy, Religion, and EthicsEconomics, Management, Finance and the Social Sciences [EMFSS]EnglishHistoryInternational Foundation ProgrammeLawsPhilosophyTeacher Development
Postgraduate Programme
Applied Educational Leadership and ManagementCentre for Financial and Management Studies (CeFiMS)Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy (CISD)Climate Change and Development (CeDEP)Clinical Trials, Demography and Health, Epidemiology, Global Health Policy, Infectious Diseases, Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacovigilance, Public HealthEducationEducational and Social ResearchGlobal MBAHuman Resource Management (New Regulations)Human RightsInformation SecurityInternational BusinessInternational ManagementLearning and Teaching in Higher EducationLivestock Health and Production, and Veterinary Epidemiology and Public HealthOrganizational Psychology (New Regulations)Petroleum GeosciencePostgraduate LawsProfessional AccountancyRefugee Protection and Forced Migration StudiesSustainable Development (new) (CeDEP)
University of London Admissions
The University Admissions Office (UAO), part of Student and Academic Services, acts as a central inquiry point for prospective students from the United Kingdom and around the world. It is responsible for the administrative management and processing of undergraduate and postgraduate applications for programs that are being offered by the University Schools, and particularly Admissions Tutors, are the ones to make the admissions decision and have full control of their entry criteria. The UAO will support Admissions Tutors in administering the approved criteria as well as providing broader support for the overall admissions process. The Admissions Office is also responsible for:
Processing all applications in agreement with the University’s guidelinesMaking all fee assessments in agreement with the relevant regulationsAdvising on United Kingdom and International qualificationsOrganising University’s Confirmation and Clearing operationGiving Management Information on application statistics and associated trendIssuing CAS Statements to new students and reporting to the University board.
Application Procedure How to apply To apply for admission into the University of London, follow the steps below. Apply for your preferred course through its dedicated course page. You can also apply to study our modules individually in several cases. Remember to attach any proof or documents we need and pay any application fee (if it’s relevant to the course you are applying for). We might not be able to process your application fully until we have received everything we need. To apply for your prior learning to be accredited, please complete the relevant section on the application page. We accept your application by email within 24 hours. This includes a student reference number if you need to contact us about your application. From then, we endeavor to respond within five working days. You have up till the registration deadline to accept an offer and pay your initial fees. We send you your study materials as soon as they are available. To Apply Click Here >
University of London Tuition Fee
Undergraduate Tuition Fees Tuition fees for the undergraduate United Kingdom and European Union (UK/EU) students are being determined by the UK Government. For the United Kingdom and European Union students beginning their study in the year 2022, the first year fee is £9,250. Fees for the year 2022 will remain at £11,250. However, the University of London can confirm that for EU students beginning their study in the year 2022, fees will remain the same as United Kingdom resident fees for the duration of their course irrespective of any succeeding changes in government policy. The institution reserves the right to augment your tuition fees annually in line with the Retail Prices Index to take account of the institution’s increased costs of delivering educational services. If the institution intends to increase your tuition fees we will notify you ASAP. For international students, fees may vary from course to course and details can be found on our undergraduate course pages. Fees in each subsequent year of study may also be subject to an annual increase, as detailed above for the United Kingdom and European Union students, but again this is subject to confirmation. If you need to apply for a Student Visa to study in the UK, you will need to provide proof that you can pay your tuition fees as part of the application process.
University of London Postgraduate Tuition Fees
Tuition fees for postgraduate degrees at the University of London vary from course to course and can be found on the postgraduate course pages. Each course page gives details of fees charged if you are a United Kingdom, European Union, and International Student or if you are planning to study full or part-time. As with undergraduate students, if you need to apply for a Student Visa to study in the United Kingdom, you will need to provide proof that you can pay your tuition fees as part of the application process.
University of London Scholarships
The level of competition for scholarships and educational awards is quite high. We commend that you apply for the course early if you plan to apply for a related award. For some of our scholarships, you will need an offer to study the course to be eligible for the scholarship. Even where it is not a requirement, holding an offer to study can often profit a funding application. There are a lot of scholarship being offered by the University of London which includes; Guy S. Goodwin-Gill Scholarship The Guy S. Goodwin Gill Scholarship is for the October intake of the MA Refugee Protection and Forced Migration Studies. Sadako Ogata Scholarship The Sadako Ogata Scholarship is for the March intake of the MA Refugee Protection and Forced Migration Studies School of Advanced Study Activist Scholar Bursary This award is available for students of any nationality to study the MA Understanding and Securing Human Rights. Sir John Cass’s Foundation Scholarship The Sir John Cass’s Foundation Distance Learning Scholarship is available for residents of London under the age of 25. Scholarships for Refugees and Displaced Persons Fee-waiver awards to study the LLM, Global MBA, or MA Refugee Protection and Forced Migration programs. DCMS Scholarships These are provided by the UK Government for UK residents who wish to change careers through an MSc in Information Security. MBA UK/EU Bursary Applicants for the MBA from the UK or EU member states are eligible for a 20% bursary until September. Postgraduate Laws Scholarship These awards are for high-performing existing students in a number of countries across Europe, Asia, and Africa. MBA Scholarships for Women Scholarships for women of various nationalities to study the Global MBA, celebrating 150 years since we admitted women to higher education. Malaysian Bar Council Members Bursary Members of the Malaysian Bar Council are now able to receive a fee bursary for the Postgraduate Laws program. Canon Collins Scholarships These scholarships are for nationals of Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe to study Postgraduate Laws (LLM).
