University of London

home to the university's central administration offices and its library
The University of London, founded in 1836, is a federation of colleges which together constitute one of the world's largest universities. Somewhere between 10 and 20 percent of all UK students attend one of its colleges, which include some of the most prestigious places of study in the world. Many universities in Britain and abroad began life as associate colleges of the university, offering its degrees under licence. In recent years this aspect of the university's work has revived, because of globalisation, and an increasing number of overseas academic institutes offer University of London diplomas and degrees. The Main offices of the University of London are at Senate House, which includes a priceless library and the residence of the Chancellor.

The university at first comprised just two colleges, University College London (UCL) and King's College London (KCL), but now has over 15, many of which are major institutions in their own right. Besides UCL and King's, the most famous are Imperial College, the London School of Economics (LSE), Queen Mary (QMUL), Royal Holloway (RHUL), Goldsmiths College, and the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). Other colleges also award degrees from the University of London, including the University of Southampton until 1952 when it was awarded its own Royal Charter.

The university is a federal body made up of a number of highly autonomous colleges and institutes, widely scattered across greater London. For most practical purposes, its constituent colleges are usually treated as individual universities. Under English law, some of these are Recognised Bodies with the authority to grant their own degrees (which means that they enjoy the same status as other institutions with their own degree-awarding power), while others are Listed Bodies that offer courses leading to degrees from the University of London (which means that they have the same status as the constitutent institutions of the University of Wales and the colleges of Oxford, Cambridge, and Durham).

Colleges and institutions

The colleges and institutes of the University are, as of October 2003:

Recognised bodies

Birkbeck, University of London

Goldsmiths College

Heythrop College

Imperial College London, incorporating Imperial College at Wye

Institute of Cancer Research

Institute of Education

King's College London (KCL), incorporating the Institute of Psychiatry and The Guy's, King's and St Thomas' School of Medicine

London Business School

London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Queen Mary, University of London (QMUL) incorporating Barts and The London, Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry

Royal Academy of Music

Royal Holloway

Royal Veterinary College

School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), incorporating the London School of Jewish Studies

School of Pharmacy

University College London (UCL), incorporating the Eastman Dental Institute, the Institute of Child Health, the Institute of Neurology, the Institute of Ophthalmology, the Royal Free and University College Medical School, the School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES), and the Slade School of Fine Art