University of London’s Colleges and Institutes

School of Advanced Study :
Institute of Advanced Legal Studies
Institute of Classical Studies
Institute of Commonwealth Studies
Institute of English Studies
Institute of Germanic & Romance Studies
Institute of Historical Research
Institute of Musical Research
Institute of Philosophy
Institute for the Study of the Americas
Warburg Institute
University of London Institute in Paris
University Marine Biological Station, Millpor
Colleges:
University of London, Birkbeck,
The Central School of Speech and Drama
Courtauld Institute of Art
Goldsmiths, University of London
Heythrop College
The Institute of Cancer Research
Institute of Education
King’s College London
London Business School
London School of Economics and Political Science
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Queen Mary, University of London
Royal Academy of Music
Royal Holloway, University of London
The Royal Veterinary College
George’s, University of London
The School of Oriental and African Studies
The School of Pharmacy
UCL

University of London, England

The University of London is a university based primarily in London. Subjects can be studied at various levels and lead to the award of foundation, undergraduate, taught postgraduate and research degrees, or to diplomas or certificates.

The University of London owns a considerable estate of 160 buildings centred on the Bloomsbury district of central London near the Russell Square tube station. Some of the University's colleges have their main buildings on the estate. The Bloomsbury campus also contains eight Halls of Residence and Senate House, which houses the Senate House Library, the chancellor's official residence and the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, now part of University College London (UCL) and housed in its own new building.
The estate includes several properties outside Bloomsbury, including the University Marine Biological Station, Millport on the Isle of Cumbrae, a boathouse on the Chiswick embankment, a number of self-catering units further afield, which together house nearly 3,000 students, and the full premises of the University of London Institute in Paris which offers undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in French Studies.
Many of the University's college and institutes are outside Bloomsbury: those normally own their own estates.
The University is a federal mega university made up of 31 affiliates (19 colleges and 12 institutes). The nine larger colleges are Birkbeck, Goldsmiths, King's College London, the London Business School, the London School of Economics, Queen Mary, Royal Holloway, the School of Oriental and African Studies, and University College London (UCL).
For most practical purposes, ranging from admission of students to negotiating funding from the government, the 19 constituent colleges are treated as individual universities. Within the university federation they are known as Recognised Bodies, with the authority to examine students and have the university award them degrees. Some colleges have recently obtained the power to award their own degrees and the University has amended its statutes to allow them to do so and remain in the university. For instance, beginning in the 2007/08 academic year, King's College London, the London School of Economics and the University College London will be awarding their own degree certificates while retaining their constituent colleges status within the University of London.

University of London

University of London Founded in 1836, the University at first comprised just two colleges: University College London, which previously had no official chartered status and did not apply religious tests to its students, and King's College London, which had been chartered since 1829 and which admitted only members of the Church of England. Both King's (founded 1829) and University College London (founded 1826) pre-date the University of London, which initially served solely as an examining body for the constituent colleges.
In 1858 the University expanded its role by offering the University of London External System to candidates outside of the colleges, the first of its kind in the country. A new headquarters at 6 Burlington Gardens, providing the university with exam halls and offices, was built to accommodate the new role. In 1878 the University set another first when it became the first university in the UK to admit women on equal terms with men. Four female students obtained Bachelor of Arts degrees in 1880 and two obtained Bachelor of Science degrees in 1881, again the first in the country.
In 1898, in part as a response to criticisms of universities which merely served as centres for the administration of tests, and calls for research and education to be more central functions of universities, the first University of London Act was passed, reforming the University and giving it responsibility for monitoring course content and academic standards within its institutions. The monitoring was conducted through newly formed centralised faculties and Boards of Studies, and King's and UCL now became constituent parts of the University of London. A symbolic element to the new centralisation of the University was the fact that UCL property became property of the University of London.
This significant expansion of role meant the University again needed more space, and so 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated in 1899. Shortly after the 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Goldsmiths College joined in 1904, Imperial College was founded in 1907, Queen Mary College joined in 1915, the School of Oriental and African Studies was founded in 1916 and Birkbeck joined in 1920. This rapid expansion meant that the University's new premises would prove insufficient by the 1920s, requiring yet another move. A large parcel of land in Bloomsbury near the British Museum was acquired from the Duke of Bedford and Charles Holden was appointed architect with the instruction to create a building "not to suggest a passing fashion inappropriate to buildings which will house an institution of so permanent a character as a University." This unusual remit may have been inspired 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 near the Royal School of Needlework".
During the Second World War the colleges of the university (with the exception of Birkbeck) and their students left London in favour of safer parts of the UK, while Senate House was used by the Ministry of Information, with its roof becoming an observation point for the Royal Observer Corps.
The latter half of the last century was less eventful, mostly characterised by expansion and consolidation within the university, with the most significant risk within the university being some of the larger colleges (most notably UCL, King's, LSE and Imperial) periodically putting forward the possibility of their departure from the university, though this usually only happened when the colleges were negotiating for more powers. On 9 December 2005, however, Imperial College became the first college to make a formal decision to leave the university. Its council announced that it was beginning negotiations to withdraw from the university in time for its own centenary celebrations, and in order to be able to award its own degrees. On 5 October 2006, the University of London accepted Imperial's formal request to withdraw from the federation. The Times Higher Education Supplement announced in February 2007 that the London School of Economics, University College London and King's College London all plan to start awarding their own degrees, rather than degrees from the federal University of London as they have done previously, from the start of the new academic year (starting in Autumn 2007). Although this plan to award their own degrees does not amount to a decision to formally leave the University of London, the THES suggests that this 'rais[es] new doubts about the future of the federal University of London'. However, the University continues to grow and, in 2005, admitted the Central School of Speech and Drama.

Education In England

Higher education In England
Students normally enter University from 18 onwards and study for an Academic Degree. Apart from a single private university, all undergraduate education is largely state financed (with tuition fees set at a maximum index-linked £3,145 per year, repayable after graduation contingent on attaining a certain level of income, and with the state paying all fees for students from the poorest backgrounds), and UK students are generally entitled to student loans for maintenance.
The typical first degree offered at British universities is the Bachelor's degree (typically three years). Many institutions now offer an undergraduate Master's degree as a first degree, typically lasting four years. During a first degree students are known as undergraduates. The difference in fees between undergraduate and traditional postgraduate Master's degrees (and the possibility of securing LEA funding for the former) makes taking an undergraduate Master's degree as a first degree a more attractive option, although the novelty of undergraduate Master's degrees means that the relative educational merit of the two is currently unclear.
Some universities offer a vocationally-based Foundation degree, typically two years in length for those students who hope to continue to take a first degree but wish to remain in employment.
Postgraduate education
Students who have completed a first degree are eligible to undertake a postgraduate degree, which includes:
Master's degree (typically taken in one year)
Doctorate degree (typically taken in three years)
Postgraduate education is not automatically financed by the State, and so admission is in practice highly competitive.
Specialist qualifications
Education: Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE), Certificate in Education (Cert Ed), C&G 7407 or Bachelor of Education (BA or BEd), most of which also incorporate Qualified Teacher Status (QTS).
Law: Bachelor of Laws LL.B.
Medicine: Bachelors of Medicine and Surgery studied at Medical school (United Kingdom)
Business: Master of Business Administration MBA.