Best Global Universities in the United Kingdom

 

University of Oxford Summary

OXFORD

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The exact date of the University of Oxford’s founding is unknown, but the school traces its roots back to at least 1096. Oxford is located around 60 miles northwest of London, and around 45 percent of its student body is made up of graduate students. More than half of Oxford’s graduate students conduct research as part of their studies. Research at Oxford takes place in all four of its academic divisions: humanities; mathematical, physical and life sciences; medical sciences; and social sciences. Oxford’s academic calendar is divided into three terms – Michaelmas (fall), Hilary (spring) and Trinity (summer) – each eight weeks long. The language of instruction at the university is English.

The University of Oxford is made up of a central university; 38 colleges; and six Permanent Private Halls, which tend to be smaller than colleges and offer fewer subjects. The colleges at Oxford are each equipped with a dining hall, common room and library. Undergraduates are guaranteed college housing for their freshman year and can often continue to live there during the later years of their studies. Graduate students are not guaranteed housing but some colleges may have space for them during their first year, especially for international students. Tuition costs are higher for non-European Union students. The university and its academic departments and colleges, as well as dozens of external organizations, have made more than 900 scholarships available for graduate students.

University College London Summary

LONDON

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University College London, or UCL, is a public institution that was founded in 1826. It was the third university established in England, following the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge. UCL is based in central London, though it also has branch campuses in Qatar and Australia. Additionally, UCL has exchange and research agreements as well as other types of partnerships with universities around the world, such as the University of Montreal in Canada and Zhejiang University in China. UCL students hail from around 150 countries, and tuition costs are higher for students from outside the U.K. and European Union. University housing is guaranteed for first-year undergraduates. The UCL academic calendar has three terms, and the language of instruction is English.

UCL has 11 academic divisions: arts and humanities; brain sciences; engineering; education; laws; life sciences; mathematical and physical sciences; medical sciences; population health sciences; social and historical sciences; and the Bartlett, a division focused on architecture and planning. The university is affiliated with several hospitals and medical centers, such as the University College Hospital and the Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital. Research takes place across the academic disciplines at UCL, but the main multidisciplinary research domains are neuroscience, personalized medicine, populations and lifelong health, the environment and eResearch. The university has been associated with research accomplishments throughout its history. One example is that a UCL professor won the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1904 for his discovery of noble gases, including neon gas.

University College London Data

Total number of students

35,895

Number of international students

20,250

Total number of academic staff

3,440

Number of international staff

1,340

Number of undergraduate degrees awarded

5,215

Number of master’s degrees awarded

9,630

Number of doctoral degrees awarded

1,230

Number of research only staff

3,410

Number of new undergraduate students

5,495

Number of new master’s students

8,290

Number of new doctoral students

1,095

Imperial College London Summary

LONDON

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Imperial College London is a public institution that was founded in 1907. The university was previously a college of the University of London and became an independent institution in 2007. The science-focused university is made up of multiple campuses located in and around London. The main campus is situated in South Kensington, an area in Central London that is home to other cultural and educational institutions, such as the Natural History Museum. Upward of 15,000 students attend Imperial, and tuition costs are higher for non-European Union students. Housing is guaranteed for first-year undergraduates, and a limited number of rooms are available for returning undergrads. On-campus graduate student housing is available for those studying at the Silwood Park campus, located around 25 miles west of Central London.

The university comprises four academic divisions focused on engineering, medicine, natural sciences and business. Imperial’s academic calendar contains three terms – autumn, spring and summer – and the primary language of instruction is English. Among the university’s research centers and groups are the Data Science Institute, the Institute of Global Health Innovation and the Centre for Hedge Fund Research. The university’s Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme each year provides around 400 students with hands-on research opportunities. The university’s International Research Opportunities Programme sends Imperial undergraduates to partner universities in different countries – such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the U.S. and Seoul National University in South Korea – to conduct research for a minimum of eight weeks during the summer break. Imperial also has a history of research pioneers, including Alexander Fleming, who in 1945 discovered penicillin, an antibiotic that is now commonly used to treat bacterial infections.

Imperial College London Data

Total number of students

17,630

Number of international students

10,220

Total number of academic staff

1,580

Number of international staff

650

Number of undergraduate degrees awarded

2,660

Number of master’s degrees awarded

4,350

Number of doctoral degrees awarded

895

Number of research only staff

2,375

Number of new undergraduate students

2,785

Number of new master’s students

3,675

Number of new doctoral students

765

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